How do I love thee? Let me count the ways...
Recognise the reference, Diary? You should. It's from a book. And you're a book. Books must have a little get together every now and again. Talking about their contents and their fans and all that book-like stuff that you must go on about.
Do you do that, Diary? Do you casually hang out with my Winnie The Pooh books from childhood? Or do you stick to what you know and stay with the younger versions of me. Your predecessors, as it were, and keep them up to date with the girl that Clara Kennedy grew up to be? I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case. In fact, I think I'd much prefer it...
Anyway, as I was saying. It's a quote. From a book. Well, not a book. It's probably in a book somewhere, but it's not actually a book. It's a Sonnet. Sonnet 43. And now that you've heard the word 'sonnet', I bet you're thinking Shakespeare, aren't you?
If you are, you'd be wrong. Common misconception this one. Just because it's a famous poem, everyone automatically places it in the same equation as William Shakespeare. The most famous poet/author/playwright/everything in the entire history of the world. But we ignorant are so very wrong.
Sonnet 43 was actually written by a woman called Elizabeth Barret Browning. First published in 1850, which is way way way after Shakespeare even walked the planet! Number 43 in a collection of sonnets known to us as 'Sonnets from the Portuguese', and I quote this from a website I looked at earlier today,''makes it an important part of the climax'. She also tricked us again by making us believe that these poems were ones she translated from the Portuguese language. But actually, her husband used to call her 'My Little Portuguese', so she crafted the title ingeniously to incorporate it.
They believe that these poems were all intended to declare her love to her husband. Critics, that is. I haven't read them all, but I think I'd agree with them. Words are so often used for that cause now, aren't they? When you can't say them out loud, write them down. Or sing them out. Or draw them in the sky. Either way, just say them. Because either way, it's best to make your feelings known to those who need to know.
Wasn't that a nice little lesson for you? Didn't actually mean for it to turn into one of those. Say a quote, realise the learner has no idea what it is, so explain it to them whilst completely losing the point of why you opened the entry with it. Good one, Clara. You've got a way with waffling, haven't you? Just get to the point now, okay? Okay!
I had it quoted at me. That was the whole point of bringing it up. Those words were spoken to me, spontaneously, without any warning.
Let me paint the picture for you. As much as I can, anyway. You know me. I'll go off into too much detail, because of my need to describe the entire event. D'you mind me doing that, Diary? It would be beneficial for you, you know. I knew I could count on you!
I'm not really sure what made him decide to take me there, but it was Danny's idea all along. After the argument last month, he's made an effort to be more romantic and all that. And what better way than to take your girlfriend on a late night drive? Where to, you ask? God knows where. I haven't got the faintest idea where that man took me last night.
I also gave you the wrong impression. I say that he took me somewhere. That isn't technically true. I had to do the driving. Dan can't actually drive. He's never really needed to learn. Living in cities doesn't leave you rendered useless without the ability to drive. He's so laid back that he just hitched lifts with friends, or his parents, or used public transport. Not something that I could do myself. I needed to learn to drive whether it killed me or not. Just another one of those niggling needs in the back of my brain, I guess.
