Fab woman gets engaged

She's a timeless beauty with a resemblance to Lauren Bacall.

"She soon left for Hollywood, where, shortly after arriving, she was stopped outside an L.A. lunch spot by Jake Gyllenhaal. The actor just wanted to say how strikingly beautiful he found her." [...] Source: Elle magazine

"Grey's Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo and her boyfriend, record producer Chris Ivery, are engaged, PEOPLE has confirmed.

Ivery proposed to Pompeo on Friday, her 37th birthday, after breakfast at home. "She was surprised and thrilled," the actress's rep tells PEOPLE. Ivery presented Pompeo with a 3.5-carat emerald-cut diamond in a platinum setting from jewelry designer Tacori.

Pompeo and Ivery, 37, both Boston-area natives, grew up minutes away from each other, but didn't meet until pals introduced them in Los Angeles in 2003. They didn't start dating right away. "We were friends for six months; then one night she just looked different to me," Ivery told PEOPLE in October.

Their relationship is laid-back. "We had a great day yesterday," Pompeo told PEOPLE. "We walked on the beach, then we came home, took a shower and went out for sushi. Then we laid on the couch with the dogs and watched TV."

Pompeo added, "We were six degrees our whole lives, so I feel like we were sort of meant to be. We'll get married eventually, secretly."

According to Pompeo's rep, no wedding date has been set." Source: People via Barbie Martini
Not just I have in common with Ellen Pompeo half of my name, plus I'm a sushi devorator as her. I'm feeling mixed with these news, I'm happy for Ellen and her fiancée, but she will always be for me Bertie Knox from "Moonlight Mile", the fabulous woman who met the shy guy in town, whom she left her past life behind with.

Livestrong and Jake

I see, Riding with the good guys... and girls. This photo serie belongs to the "Ride for the Roses Weekend Livestrong charity event" in Texas 14th October 2006.

Isn't Jake much more handsome withouth the cyclist custome? Pictures from Kreutz photography via IHJ.

Similar cowboys

Hot Batmen

Which of these three Batmen would make the best lover?
No doubt they are fine dressers, and know how to combine flattering black capes.

Sexy Voting

Jake Gyllenhaal checks his text messages after going to vote in Beverly Hills, and he proudly sports an "I Voted" sticker on his chest. He also sports another accessory, his pal Lance Armstrong's trademark "Live Strong" bracelet.
Pictures and info from IHJ.

Kirsten's Co-Stars

"KIRSTEN KISSES AND TELLS ON THE MEN IN HER LIFE"

We asked Dunst to dish on her impressive list of hunky co-stars. [USA WEEKEND, October 2005]

ORLANDO BLOOM -- "Elizabethtown" [2005]
"What people don't know is he's such a dork! I saw your magazine cover [USA WEEKEND, April 29-May 1, 2005], and he looked really cool. I wish people would stop trying to make him that way. He's so sweet and goofy, and he loves his dog. It's the way he walks; it's not putting on airs and acting however he feels. And [filming in Kentucky] there were so many crowds, and mostly girls who wanted to see Orlando. I was like, 'OK, Orlando, I'll be in my trailer!' "

PAUL BETTANY -- "Wimbledon" (2004)
"He's so wise and so ethereal, too -- it's amazing. He has a delicate way about him. But he's also strong. He made me laugh -- but it's very English humor, which I wouldn't always get. I'd be like, 'What? The bollocks, what?' "

TOBEY MAGUIRE -- the "Spider-Man" movie series
(2002, 2004 and 2007)
"I thought Tobey was adorable. We have incredible chemistry. We've been on a long journey, and we're friends. In fact, this [pointing to her necklace, a delicate gold leaf on a gold chain] is Tobey's girlfriend Jen Meyer's new jewelry line. I love it."

JOSH HARTNETT -- "The Virgin Suicides" (1999)
"I didn't think he was good-looking enough after seeing his head shot. I said, 'Sofia [Coppola, the director, who also cast Dunst to star in next year's biopic, Marie-Antoinette], are you sure?' But then I met him, and I was like, 'OK, very, very good choice, Sofia!' I was a little intimidated."

DUSTIN HOFFMAN and ROBERT DE NIRO -- "Wag the Dog" (1997)
"Robert was a little more serious and reserved. Dustin was definitely the more gregarious one, very flirty and fatherly. He kept trying to hook me up with his son, Jake. And [Jake and I] actually went out a little bit."

TOM CRUISE and BRAD PITT -- Interview with the Vampire (1994)
"Tom [produced] 'Elizabethtown.' He ran up and gave me a big hug; he has always been so proud of me. He acts very protective.
In the movie, Dunst, then 11, kisses Brad Pitt. She later said, "I hated it. It was gross! It was like kissing your brother. His lips were so dry." Today, she balks at the subject. "That's so in the past, and I was so young, and it was so not a big deal to me! When I see Brad, it's like, 'Awww!' It brings back a sentimental thing for me.

MARK RUFFALO -- "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" (2004)
"He's probably my favorite. He brought out so much in me. My vulnerable side ... it's very easy with him. One day we were jumping on the bed in our underwear [for a scene], and it wasn't awkward. We had so much fun." Source: USA Weekend
thanks to Penny Lane!

-New Woman magazine Test: "Tell us a secret"
-Kirsten Dunst: "I have a crush on Mark Ruffalo. But don't tell anyone!" -New Woman Magazine, May 2004.

Vote for Kirsten

Kirsten Dunst has been chosen nominee in the Favorite Leading Lady category by People Choice's Award. So, besides of North America votation, you can take a minute for giving her a little victory. Aside of Cameron "joker-smile" Diaz, her tough rival is Scarlett Johansson, but I ask does ScarJo have those cute dimples? Another reason to reward her is these recent rumours about how Jake pissed off Kirsten in the Hennessy Artistry event at Capitale on 17 th October and how she also received a negative from Jake to attend a lunch that Marie Antoinette star proposed him, I don't give too much credit to this story, but if it turns to be true, I'll get very angry at him for not giving Kirsten a second (or 100th) chance.
Vote now for her as Leading Lady here (and for others) hitting "Movies". Fans can vote for their favorites in movies, TV and music at pcavote.com. Winners will be announced when the show airs live on CBS 9th January. Source: E!online.com

Next Kirsten Film

"Paramount Vantage has acquired A.N. Wilson's novel "A Jealous Ghost" for Kirsten Dunst to star in and produce. Film 360, Management 360's feature film label, also is on board to produce the supernatural thriller, which is being adapted by Virginia-based scribe Megan Holley.

360's Ben Forkner discovered the 2005 book while on a trip to London last year. He immediately thought of Dunst, who had said she was interested in finding a dark, elevated psychological thriller in the vein of "The Shining" and Roman Polanski's "Repulsion."

Shelley Duvall as Wendy in "The Shining" by Stanley Kubrick.

Catherine Deneuve as Carole in "Repulsion" by Roman Polanski.

Dunst has not appeared in a dark supernatural thriller since 1994's "Interview With the Vampire," the movie that launched her to stardom.

Dunst, Forkner and her manager, 360's Eric Kranzler, developed a take with Holley before bringing the project to Paramount Vantage.

Holley's take detours from the book, which is written in third-person omniscient, dropping certain elements while creating new characters and story points. The take sees Dunst playing a young woman studying in London who, upon beginning a relationship with one of her professors, starts seeing demons.

Producing for 360 are Kranzler, Forkner and Daniel Rappaport." Source: Hollywoodreporter
Thanks to Hedda Parsons for the heads-up!

Researching for this book I found this about the novel:
"There is something rather disquieting about Sallie Declan, a young American in London, and it is not just her obsession with Henry James's The Turn of the Screw, the subject of her PhD thesis. There is her decision, almost casually taken, to leave her studies for a temporary job as a nanny in a large country house. She seems to display astonishing naivety as she builds a fantasy about her emotional future there. Surely she can see it is all delusion? But a progressively darker reality unfolds as we are led inexorably towards a terrible and shocking climax. With A Jealous Ghost A. N. Wilson has written a masterpiece to rival even that of the master himself, Henry James." Source: Fantasticfiction.co.uk

"His novels include The Healing Art (Somerset Maugham Award), Wise Virgin (WH Smith Award). His study of the Victorian age, The Victorians, was published by Hutchinson in 2002 to massive critical acclaim." extracted from Amazon.com
I'm an usual reader of this genre and I was myself obsessed with Henry James and three adaptations of his novel "The turn of the screw":

"The turn of the screw" (1959) by John Frankenheimer, "The Innocents"(1961) by Jack Clayton and "The Others" (2001) by Alejandro Amenábar.

Tagging a piece of cinema

1. Popcorn or candy?
Always popcorn, guys and dolls. Two varieties of it: sugary-coloured popcorn or extra-sized white popcorn. Never cheese-flavoured popcorn (horrible).

2. Name a movie you've been meaning to see forever.
"The Bourne Supremacy" It causes me laziness in cause of the cast stars: Matt Damon, Julia Stiles, but I've read it's a good sequel to "The Bourne Identity" (2002), which I enjoyed immensely, specially when Clive Owen appeared onscreen. Some day soon.

3. You are given the power to recall one Oscar: Who loses theirs and to whom?
As my memory isn't too good to look backwards in the past -and I don't have much time to look through Imdb- although there were many injustices in Oscar competitions, I'd choose that one of my readers, gr77, mentioned in the Eternal Sunshine poem post: Kate Winslet should have won the Oscar who was delivered to Hillary Swank (she had already an Oscar for "Boys don't cry", damnit!)

4. Steal one costume from a movie for your wardrobe.
Which will it be?
The hooker costume that Reese Witherspoon wore in the film "Freeway" (1996). Grunge and appealing outfit.

5. Your favorite film franchise is...
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre saga, starting by the initial Tobe Hooper's classic (1974) a horror masterpiece, the sequels are pitiful, but the iconic Leatherface and Texas atmosphere always get me.

6. Invite five movie people over for dinner. Who are they? Why'd you invite them? What do you feed them?
James Dean, James Stewart, Katherine Hepburn (the irony factor), Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield - Blonde and Blonder ! (so we would make jokes about big boobs).

7. What is the appropriate punishment for people who answer cell phones in the movie theater?
A proper punishment would be forcing them to continue talking nonsense all through the movie. Their bills cost at the end of the month would compensate us in some way, now if they're rich, the mobilphone must explode while they're answering.

8. Choose a female bodyguard: Ripley from Aliens. Mystique from X-Men. Sarah Connor from Terminator 2. The Bride from Kill Bill. Mace from Strange Days
Ripley, and she can go in tiny knickers while protects my security if she wishes.

9. What's the scariest thing you've ever seen in a movie?
The subliminal flashes of Samara Morgan in "The Ring" (2002)

10. Your favorite genre (excluding comedy and drama) is?
At present, I'd say thriller or fantasy genre.

11. You are given the power to greenlight movies at a major studio for one year. How do you wield this power?
I'd delegate this power function in somebody who works inside the industry and still hates most of its predictable mechanisms, like my colleague blogger (who has tagged me in the survey) Arden. She confronts a lot of cineparaphernalia everyday and would know how to deal with the promising ideas/scripts of the projects.

12. Bonnie or Clyde?
What a question, Clyde, despite of his slight impotence.

13. Who are you tagging to answer this survey?
I'm tagging Emma from All about my movies. I hope she isn't too busy studying.

Josh and Jake

Josh Hartnett hanging out with fashion model Daria Werbowy.

Jake posing with Daria Werbowy in a photoshoot for Vogue mag.

and the inevitable comparison: Josh and Jake laughing with Kirsten Dunst.

Gary and Jake

“When I think of work, it's mostly about having control over your destiny, as opposed to being at the mercy of what's out there.”
-Gary Sinise quote.

'I'm like, 'What world am I living in?' Aren't movies made to have something to say? Why make a movie if you don't have something to say? What are you doing it for? Are you doing it because you want to make a lot of money?' -Jake Gyllenhaal quote.

Eternal Sunshine

ELOISA TO ABELARD

"In these deep solitudes and awful cells,
Where heav'nly-pensive contemplation dwells,
And ever-musing melancholy reigns;
What means this tumult in a vestal's veins?
Why rove my thoughts beyond this last retreat?
Why feels my heart its long-forgotten heat?
Yet, yet I love! — From Abelard it came,
And Eloisa yet must kiss the name.
Dear fatal name! rest ever unreveal'd,
Nor pass these lips in holy silence seal'd.
Hide it, my heart, within that close disguise,
Where mix'd with God's, his lov'd idea lies:
O write it not, my hand — the name appears
Already written — wash it out, my tears!
In vain lost Eloisa weeps and prays,
Her heart still dictates, and her hand obeys.

Relentless walls! whose darksome round contains
Repentant sighs, and voluntary pains:
Ye rugged rocks! which holy knees have worn;
Ye grots and caverns shagg'd with horrid thorn!
Shrines! where their vigils pale-ey'd virgins keep,
And pitying saints, whose statues learn to weep!
Though cold like you, unmov'd, and silent grown,
I have not yet forgot myself to stone.
All is not Heav'n's while Abelard has part,
Still rebel nature holds out half my heart;
Nor pray'rs nor fasts its stubborn pulse restrain,
Nor tears, for ages, taught to flow in vain.
Soon as thy letters trembling I unclose,
That well-known name awakens all my woes.
Oh name for ever sad! for ever dear!
Still breath'd in sighs, still usher'd with a tear.
I tremble too, where'er my own I find,
Some dire misfortune follows close behind.
Line after line my gushing eyes o'erflow,
Led through a sad variety of woe:
Now warm in love, now with'ring in thy bloom,
Lost in a convent's solitary gloom!
There stern religion quench'd th' unwilling flame,
There died the best of passions, love and fame.

Yet write, oh write me all, that I may join
Griefs to thy griefs, and echo sighs to thine.
Nor foes nor fortune take this pow'r away;
And is my Abelard less kind than they?
Tears still are mine, and those I need not spare,
Love but demands what else were shed in pray'r;
No happier task these faded eyes pursue;
To read and weep is all they now can do.
Then share thy pain, allow that sad relief;
Ah, more than share it! give me all thy grief.
Heav'n first taught letters for some wretch's aid,
Some banish'd lover, or some captive maid;
They live, they speak, they breathe what love inspires,
Warm from the soul, and faithful to its fires,
The virgin's wish without her fears impart,
Excuse the blush, and pour out all the heart,
Speed the soft intercourse from soul to soul,
And waft a sigh from Indus to the Pole.

Thou know'st how guiltless first I met thy flame,
When Love approach'd me under Friendship's name;
My fancy form'd thee of angelic kind,
Some emanation of th' all-beauteous Mind.
Those smiling eyes, attemp'ring ev'ry day,
Shone sweetly lambent with celestial day.
Guiltless I gaz'd; heav'n listen'd while you sung;
And truths divine came mended from that tongue.
From lips like those what precept fail'd to move?
Too soon they taught me 'twas no sin to love.
Back through the paths of pleasing sense I ran,
Nor wish'd an Angel whom I lov'd a Man.
Dim and remote the joys of saints I see;
Nor envy them, that heav'n I lose for thee.
How oft, when press'd to marriage, have I said,
Curse on all laws but those which love has made!
Love, free as air, at sight of human ties,
Spreads his light wings, and in a moment flies,
Let wealth, let honour, wait the wedded dame,
August her deed, and sacred be her fame;

Before true passion all those views remove,
Fame, wealth, and honour! what are you to Love?
The jealous God, when we profane his fires,
Those restless passions in revenge inspires;
And bids them make mistaken mortals groan,
Who seek in love for aught but love alone.
Should at my feet the world's great master fall,
Himself, his throne, his world, I'd scorn 'em all:
Not Caesar's empress would I deign to prove;
No, make me mistress to the man I love;
If there be yet another name more free,
More fond than mistress, make me that to thee!
Oh happy state! when souls each other draw,
When love is liberty, and nature, law:
All then is full, possessing, and possess'd,
No craving void left aching in the breast:
Ev'n thought meets thought, ere from the lips it part,
And each warm wish springs mutual from the heart.
This sure is bliss (if bliss on earth there be)
And once the lot of Abelard and me.

Alas, how chang'd! what sudden horrors rise!
A naked lover bound and bleeding lies!
Where, where was Eloise? her voice, her hand,
Her poniard, had oppos'd the dire command.
Barbarian, stay! that bloody stroke restrain;
The crime was common, common be the pain.
I can no more; by shame, by rage suppress'd,
Let tears, and burning blushes speak the rest.
Canst thou forget that sad, that solemn day,
When victims at yon altar's foot we lay?
Canst thou forget what tears that moment fell,
When, warm in youth, I bade the world farewell?
As with cold lips I kiss'd the sacred veil,
The shrines all trembl'd, and the lamps grew pale:
Heav'n scarce believ'd the conquest it survey'd,
And saints with wonder heard the vows I made.
Yet then, to those dread altars as I drew,
Not on the Cross my eyes were fix'd, but you:
Not grace, or zeal, love only was my call,
And if I lose thy love, I lose my all.
Come! with thy looks, thy words, relieve my woe;
Those still at least are left thee to bestow.
Still on that breast enamour'd let me lie,
Still drink delicious poison from thy eye,
Pant on thy lip, and to thy heart be press'd;
Give all thou canst — and let me dream the rest.
Ah no! instruct me other joys to prize,
With other beauties charm my partial eyes,
Full in my view set all the bright abode,
And make my soul quit Abelard for God.

Ah, think at least thy flock deserves thy care,
Plants of thy hand, and children of thy pray'r.
From the false world in early youth they fled,
By thee to mountains, wilds, and deserts led.
You rais'd these hallow'd walls; the desert smil'd,
And Paradise was open'd in the wild.
No weeping orphan saw his father's stores
Our shrines irradiate, or emblaze the floors;
No silver saints, by dying misers giv'n,
Here brib'd the rage of ill-requited heav'n:
But such plain roofs as piety could raise,
And only vocal with the Maker's praise.
In these lone walls (their days eternal bound)
These moss-grown domes with spiry turrets crown'd,
Where awful arches make a noonday night,
And the dim windows shed a solemn light;

Thy eyes diffus'd a reconciling ray,
And gleams of glory brighten'd all the day.
But now no face divine contentment wears,
'Tis all blank sadness, or continual tears.
See how the force of others' pray'rs I try,
(O pious fraud of am'rous charity!)
But why should I on others' pray'rs depend?
Come thou, my father, brother, husband, friend!
Ah let thy handmaid, sister, daughter move,
And all those tender names in one, thy love!
The darksome pines that o'er yon rocks reclin'd
Wave high, and murmur to the hollow wind,
The wand'ring streams that shine between the hills,
The grots that echo to the tinkling rills,
The dying gales that pant upon the trees,
The lakes that quiver to the curling breeze;
No more these scenes my meditation aid,
Or lull to rest the visionary maid.
But o'er the twilight groves and dusky caves,
Long-sounding aisles, and intermingled graves,
Black Melancholy sits, and round her throws
A death-like silence, and a dread repose:
Her gloomy presence saddens all the scene,
Shades ev'ry flow'r, and darkens ev'ry green,
Deepens the murmur of the falling floods,
And breathes a browner horror on the woods.

Yet here for ever, ever must I stay;
Sad proof how well a lover can obey!
Death, only death, can break the lasting chain;
And here, ev'n then, shall my cold dust remain,
Here all its frailties, all its flames resign,
And wait till 'tis no sin to mix with thine.

Ah wretch! believ'd the spouse of God in vain,
Confess'd within the slave of love and man.
Assist me, Heav'n! but whence arose that pray'r?
Sprung it from piety, or from despair?
Ev'n here, where frozen chastity retires,
Love finds an altar for forbidden fires.
I ought to grieve, but cannot what I ought;
I mourn the lover, not lament the fault;
I view my crime, but kindle at the view,
Repent old pleasures, and solicit new;
Now turn'd to Heav'n, I weep my past offence,
Now think of thee, and curse my innocence.
Of all affliction taught a lover yet,
'Tis sure the hardest science to forget!
How shall I lose the sin, yet keep the sense,
And love th' offender, yet detest th' offence?
How the dear object from the crime remove,
Or how distinguish penitence from love?
Unequal task! a passion to resign,
For hearts so touch'd, so pierc'd, so lost as mine.
Ere such a soul regains its peaceful state,
How often must it love, how often hate!
How often hope, despair, resent, regret,
Conceal, disdain — do all things but forget.
But let Heav'n seize it, all at once 'tis fir'd;
Not touch'd, but rapt; not waken'd, but inspir'd!
Oh come! oh teach me nature to subdue,
Renounce my love, my life, myself — and you.
Fill my fond heart with God alone, for he
Alone can rival, can succeed to thee.
How happy is the blameless vestal's lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd;
Labour and rest, that equal periods keep;
"Obedient slumbers that can wake and weep;"
Desires compos'd, affections ever ev'n,
Tears that delight, and sighs that waft to Heav'n.
Grace shines around her with serenest beams,
And whisp'ring angels prompt her golden dreams.
For her th' unfading rose of Eden blooms,
And wings of seraphs shed divine perfumes,
For her the Spouse prepares the bridal ring,
For her white virgins hymeneals sing,
To sounds of heav'nly harps she dies away,
And melts in visions of eternal day.

Far other dreams my erring soul employ,
Far other raptures, of unholy joy:
When at the close of each sad, sorrowing day,
Fancy restores what vengeance snatch'd away,
Then conscience sleeps, and leaving nature free,
All my loose soul unbounded springs to thee.
Oh curs'd, dear horrors of all-conscious night!
How glowing guilt exalts the keen delight!
Provoking Daemons all restraint remove,
And stir within me every source of love.
I hear thee, view thee, gaze o'er all thy charms,
And round thy phantom glue my clasping arms.
I wake — no more I hear, no more I view,
The phantom flies me, as unkind as you.
I call aloud; it hears not what I say;
I stretch my empty arms; it glides away.
To dream once more I close my willing eyes;
Ye soft illusions, dear deceits, arise!
Alas, no more — methinks we wand'ring go
Through dreary wastes, and weep each other's woe,
Where round some mould'ring tower pale ivy creeps,
And low-brow'd rocks hang nodding o'er the deeps.
Sudden you mount, you beckon from the skies;
Clouds interpose, waves roar, and winds arise.
I shriek, start up, the same sad prospect find,
And wake to all the griefs I left behind.

For thee the fates, severely kind, ordain
A cool suspense from pleasure and from pain;
Thy life a long, dead calm of fix'd repose;
No pulse that riots, and no blood that glows.
Still as the sea, ere winds were taught to blow,
Or moving spirit bade the waters flow;
Soft as the slumbers of a saint forgiv'n,
And mild as opening gleams of promis'd heav'n.

Come, Abelard! for what hast thou to dread?
The torch of Venus burns not for the dead.
Nature stands check'd; Religion disapproves;
Ev'n thou art cold — yet Eloisa loves.
Ah hopeless, lasting flames! like those that burn
To light the dead, and warm th' unfruitful urn.

What scenes appear where'er I turn my view?
The dear ideas, where I fly, pursue,
Rise in the grove, before the altar rise,
Stain all my soul, and wanton in my eyes.
I waste the matin lamp in sighs for thee,
Thy image steals between my God and me,
Thy voice I seem in ev'ry hymn to hear,
With ev'ry bead I drop too soft a tear.
When from the censer clouds of fragrance roll,
And swelling organs lift the rising soul,
One thought of thee puts all the pomp to flight,
Priests, tapers, temples, swim before my sight:
In seas of flame my plunging soul is drown'd,
While altars blaze, and angels tremble round.

While prostrate here in humble grief I lie,
Kind, virtuous drops just gath'ring in my eye,
While praying, trembling, in the dust I roll,
And dawning grace is op'ning on my soul:
Come, if thou dar'st, all charming as thou art!
Oppose thyself to Heav'n; dispute my heart;
Come, with one glance of those deluding eyes
Blot out each bright idea of the skies;
Take back that grace, those sorrows, and those tears;
Take back my fruitless penitence and pray'rs;
Snatch me, just mounting, from the blest abode;
Assist the fiends, and tear me from my God!

No, fly me, fly me, far as pole from pole;
Rise Alps between us! and whole oceans roll!
Ah, come not, write not, think not once of me,
Nor share one pang of all I felt for thee.
Thy oaths I quit, thy memory resign;
Forget, renounce me, hate whate'er was mine.
Fair eyes, and tempting looks (which yet I view!)
Long lov'd, ador'd ideas, all adieu!
Oh Grace serene! oh virtue heav'nly fair!
Divine oblivion of low-thoughted care!
Fresh blooming hope, gay daughter of the sky!
And faith, our early immortality!
Enter, each mild, each amicable guest;
Receive, and wrap me in eternal rest!
See in her cell sad Eloisa spread,
Propp'd on some tomb, a neighbour of the dead.
In each low wind methinks a spirit calls,
And more than echoes talk along the walls.
Here, as I watch'd the dying lamps around,
From yonder shrine I heard a hollow sound.
"Come, sister, come!" (it said, or seem'd to say)
"Thy place is here, sad sister, come away!
Once like thyself, I trembled, wept, and pray'd,
Love's victim then, though now a sainted maid:
But all is calm in this eternal sleep;
Here grief forgets to groan, and love to weep,
Ev'n superstition loses ev'ry fear:
For God, not man, absolves our frailties here."

I come, I come! prepare your roseate bow'rs,
Celestial palms, and ever-blooming flow'rs.
Thither, where sinners may have rest, I go,
Where flames refin'd in breasts seraphic glow:
Thou, Abelard! the last sad office pay,
And smooth my passage to the realms of day;
See my lips tremble, and my eye-balls roll,
Suck my last breath, and catch my flying soul!
Ah no — in sacred vestments may'st thou stand,
The hallow'd taper trembling in thy hand,
Present the cross before my lifted eye,
Teach me at once, and learn of me to die.
Ah then, thy once-lov'd Eloisa see!
It will be then no crime to gaze on me.
See from my cheek the transient roses fly!
See the last sparkle languish in my eye!
Till ev'ry motion, pulse, and breath be o'er;
And ev'n my Abelard be lov'd no more.
O Death all-eloquent! you only prove
What dust we dote on, when 'tis man we love.

Then too, when fate shall thy fair frame destroy,
(That cause of all my guilt, and all my joy)
In trance ecstatic may thy pangs be drown'd,
Bright clouds descend, and angels watch thee round,
From op'ning skies may streaming glories shine,
And saints embrace thee with a love like mine.
May one kind grave unite each hapless name,
And graft my love immortal on thy fame!
Then, ages hence, when all my woes are o'er,
When this rebellious heart shall beat no more;
If ever chance two wand'ring lovers brings
To Paraclete's white walls and silver springs,
O'er the pale marble shall they join their heads,
And drink the falling tears each other sheds;
Then sadly say, with mutual pity mov'd,
"Oh may we never love as these have lov'd!"

From the full choir when loud Hosannas rise,
And swell the pomp of dreadful sacrifice,
Amid that scene if some relenting eye
Glance on the stone where our cold relics lie,
Devotion's self shall steal a thought from Heav'n,
One human tear shall drop and be forgiv'n.
And sure, if fate some future bard shall join
In sad similitude of griefs to mine,
Condemn'd whole years in absence to deplore,
And image charms he must behold no more;
Such if there be, who loves so long, so well;
Let him our sad, our tender story tell;
The well-sung woes will soothe my pensive ghost;
He best can paint 'em, who shall feel 'em most."
(poem by Alexander Pope)