I have been watching the new BBC1 series ‘Dickensian’, a gripping, atmospheric whodunit set in Victorian times and amalgamating the characters and stories of a range of Dickens’ works. The cast is superb, as are the costumes and settings. I particularly like the way Miss Havisham’s story has been treated, so I revisited the chapter in Great Expectations when Pip first meets her at Satis House: Mr Pumblechook explains that Satis is Greek for ‘enough’, which prompted me to write the following poem, with a passing glance at Carol Ann Duffy’s ‘Havisham’, a poem I love.
She’d had enough
Of men and life
Of beauty and light
Ensconced in decay
She spent each day
Still in virgin white
Plotting her revenge
Desiccated and faded
The lustre yellowed and jaded
Withered like her dress and flowers
Clocks stopped on the fatal hour
One shoe on and one ready to throw
Skeleton in the ashes of her nuptials
Cake and all
© Kim M. Russell, 2016
Image found on www.victorianweb.org
writing in north norfolk 
“One shoe on and one ready to throw”… love this word picture!
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Thank you 😊
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So much in this poem that suggests sadness and bitterness, you have captured these feelings so very well….
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Thank you 😃
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Love it Kim, she is also one of my favorite characters! I might have to check out that series =)
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A vengeful plot is cooking! Very intense poem. Don’t know the show it references but that testifies that it’s a good poem because I get it!
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Thank you 😊
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You are welcome!
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Miss Havisham has to be one Dicken’s greatest creations. She is such a haunting character.
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