Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, The Meeting of Antony and Cleopatra (1880-83)

Ex Libris

Imagine, if you had a literary muse
visit you night after dreamy night,
leaving with you her dramatic script
to take possession of, to sweep the
world of literature with a timeless
story of humanity. A young woman
of noble lineage living in an exotic
fat-off land, in a far distant past,
uniquely elevated to rule a kingdom.
Wed to a brother, courted by a foreign
conqueror, passionately loving a
stalwart military man, seeing him die
in the madness of her grief, downs
a priceless pearl dissolved within a
poisoned goblet - alternately, prods an
asp to strike its venom into her
dusky breast. Is that not a vividly
remarkable visualization of
human emotion, pain and sorrow
trampling the celebrated?  What!
You yawn?  You've heard this tale
before, you dare claim? But my dear,
I have conveyed its details to no one
else beside yourself, not once, ever...

Ang kamatayan ni Cleopatra (The Death of Cleopatra) by Juan Luna, 1881.