(Untitled)

[ghazalah]

For Stephen, dreaming of Mona
Menorca, 19 April 1800

for scieppan

He had been quite unprepared for this particular blow, striking under every conceivable kind of armour, and for some minutes he could hardly bear the pain, but sat there blinking in the sun.

"Christ," he said at last. "Another day."

--Master and Commander

Why did I dream of you last

Comments

[sparowe]

Mona... who we know so little about, and yet so very much. One thing is certain, she left a lasting mark upon Stephen Maturin... and a hollow, I think, that cannot quite be filled by anyone or anything.

[ghazalah]

It's why I keep bugging ladybretagne to finish her Mona-Stephen-Dillon fic. I want to know!

*pokes Britt hopefully, though perfectly aware that she doesn't have the time right now*

[juliebeth]

it was upon reading this passage that I fell for Stephen, hook, line and sinker. The depth of his anguish . . .

What must it be like to have someone feel that way about you? And then to throw it all away on Diana. *sigh*

[sparowe]

Maybe that's *why* Diana.... The pain of negligence replacing the pain of loss? Independence, beauty -- but different, so different. Unable or unwilling to stay alone; kind of a strange penance?

*notes bewildered stares and quietly edges out*

[ghazalah]

Agreed. I had to read that passage several times before I could move on. It was the first real evidence that Book!Stephen was quite a different creature from Movie!Stephen.

At first it was the blasphemy that caught my eye. Then the realization that the chaste Stephen of the movie had a heart that could break. Then the shock of his penury. But for some reason the blasphemy, coming from his lips, is still the most striking element of that little tableau.

[sparowe]

Agreed.

[darketherdream]

Why did I dream of you last night?
Now morning is pushing back hair with grey light
Memories strike home, like slaps in the face

Pesky poetry, always reminding me of things. (No, really I appreciate it...)

striking under every conceivable kind of armour

...and he has such armour!

[ghazalah]

...and he has such armour!

The very best!

30 years seems awfully young to be that completely fortified.

[darketherdream]

I wonder where it comes from sometimes - I mean, I know that his employment encourages that sort of thing, but his character seems to have been like that already. I suppose the more I read, the more I'll understand.

[ghazalah]

:-)

Excellent. This concludes the test of the Larkin Broadcast System.

;-)

[ann_septimus]

Like letters that arrive addressed to someone
Who left the house so many years ago.

I love this. It captures the whump of unexpectedly returned thoughts so perfectly...

Pauvre Stephen.

[ghazalah]

The Sorrows of Young Stephen? That infernal wig is very much responsible, I fear.

^_^