Notes About The Poem
Silent One's 'When Words Speak for the Silence of Art Contest ~ July 9, 2026
Mariana in the South
Mariana in the South
Oil Painting by John William Waterhouse
Mariana is a melancholic contemplation
painted after she was spurned for another.
Fetching in a silk gown except for the frown
she wears on the clear perfection of her face.
Portrayed with a look of grief and gloom,
the artist wisely chose to embrace.
Into a mirror she stares with daunting eyes,
barely able to take a brief look
for she is haunted by her own reflection
where there is the conception of tears.
Pain dwells on her fragile features
as she prays for the return of her love
but her happiness has been felled
as if cut down by the blade of Bunyon's axe.
Waterhouse detailed longing and soulful sadness
captured in each brush stroke of oil on canvas
Unrequited love finds her in front of a looking glass,
forsaken and abandoned by her fiancé.
With arched, furrowed brows, and long brown tresses,
Mariana stands alone and forlorn.
If she were able to speak, perchance she would say,
"Love is bitterly cruel and should be scorned
for I have been forgotten, left to weep and mourn."
If she were to write verses while in deep despair,
these words she may have tearfully scribed
with the trembling hand of Mariana, the fair.
I will have no one to hold me in dark of night
and never will my faith be restored in love
I am too heartbroken to face morning light
My heart bleeds like a pensive mourning dove
I cannot face the harsh wind when it blows
There is no hope left within my woeful soul
I will be alone, freezing in frigid Winter snows
for my heart is the part of me that love stole
*J. W. Waterhouse painted 'Mariana in the South' in 1897, inspired by
the poem of the same name, written by Alfred Lord Tennyson in 1891.
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