Imagination Unlocked

Heathcliff to Catherine

We were supposed to be soulmates

But you chose him over me

You broke my heart thus

And made him my sworn enemy.

You've been my childhood playmate

Ever since your father brought me home,

Only you and Nelly had accepted me

While others left me alone.

We roamed across the moors

And tried escaping from your cruel brother

And no matter what he did to us

We always bore it together.

Until the day you told Nelly

That marrying me would be beneath you,

That statement hurt me so much

But perhaps you never knew.

And thus I left at that instant

To do something on my own

To be able to prove to you

Of how much as a man I've grown.

I wanted to be able to protect you,

To fulfill all your dreams,

I pledged thus to gain power

And cared not for the means.

But when I returned after three years,

I found what I had always dreaded,

You were a maiden no longer,

To Edgar, you were happily wedded.

But trust me Catherine, I know

That your happiness is a mask,

To live a contented life with him

Is a tedious and burdensome task.

For although he secured your life,

He lacks the boldness you possess,

He regards your pride with contempt

And resents your dauntlessness.

And I laugh at you now that

My return has left you in misery,

I love that you've become dejected

And that I'm making your life dreary.

Now you regret marrying Edgar

But you're helpless against it,

I knew that one day, in your marriage

You would fail to find merit.

His love for you is no longer enough

To calm your restless mind

And no matter how much he cares for you,

You would never be satisfied.

Your desire for me is something,

Which you never really can refute

And although Edgar has tried his best

He can never be my substitute.

For if he loved you with all his soul

And showed it in every way,

He couldn't love as much in eighty years,

As I do in a single day.

Now that I've married his sister,

I'm close to destroying them both,

I'll leave no one but myself for you,

And this is my solemn oath.

You might think I'm being driven by hatred,

And I agree this is true,

I have hatred for everyone in this world,

Everyone, apart from you.

And I'm not sorry for my actions,

Although for you, they do not make sense,

My one true wish didn't get fulfilled,

Now I shall have everything else.

Perhaps you'll never become mine again,

But I shall seize your restless mind,

You will have thoughts of no one

But me, whom you will never find.

So let us wait, dear Catherine,

Patiently, for each other,

You couldn't be mine in this life of ours,

But in death, we shall be together.

________________________________________

This is based on the novel Wuthering Heights written by Emily Bronté. I've written this poem from Heathcliff's perspective. Heathcliff has always fascinated me and I was quite captivated by the relationship​ that he had with Catherine. Their pride destroyed them both but none could stay away from the other. The intensity of emotions that they felt for each other led to jealousy and misunderstanding and Heathcliff, on finding the love of his life being married to another person decided to take revenge in his own, twisted way. This poem is based on how he felt when Catherine implored him to stop going down the path of destruction.