Untitled
A rose by any other name
Would get the blame
For being what it is -
The colour of a kiss,
The shadow of a flame.
A rose may earn another name,
So call it love;
So call it love I will,
And love is like the sea,
Which changes constantly,
And yet is still
The same.
Commentary
As part of the “poetry by authors” theme.
One of the things that I admire about Tanith Lee is her versatility. Her work (mostly prose) ranges from science fiction, through fairy tales, sword-and-sorcery, gothic horror to these beautiful little fantasy stories. Some of the themes that crop up in her work are: Little Red Riding Hood, vampires, re-incarnation, male-female gender politics, sexual ambiguity, the odd bit of humour, philosophy, theology … While I find some of her horror a bit dark, all of her work that I have read is carefully crafted, with wonderfully lush visual images and strong plots.
She also does poetry.
This poem comes from one of my favourite novels, ‘The Silver Metal Lover’, a love story.
— Catherine