Saturday, December 10, 2005

The Libertine

Saw John Malkovich being interviewed for his movie The Libertine the other night. I had seen a trailer for this movie a long time ago, but now I guess it is really coming out. It stars two of my favorite actors -- Depp and Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich! It is being billed as a "contoversial" movie. Whatever it is, it will have good acting at least. It is adapted from a play by Stephen Jeffreys (adapted by the same) that played at Steppenwolf. It's about The Earl of Rochester, John Wilmot. Here is a poem by Wilmot that made me laugh.

A Satire Against Charles II

I' th' isle of Britain, long since famous grown
For breeding the best cunts in Christendom,
There reigns, and oh! long may he reign and thrive,
The easiest King and best-bred man alive.
Him no ambition moves to get renown
Like the French fool, that wanders up and down
Starving his people, hazarding his crown.
Peace is his aim, his gentleness is such,
And love he loves, for he loves fucking much.
---Nor are his high desires above his strength:
His scepter and his prick are of a length;
And she may sway the one who plays with th' other,
And make him little wiser than his brother.
Poor prince! thy prick, like thy buffoons at Court,
Will govern thee because it makes thee sport.
'Tis sure the sauciest prick that e'er did swive,
The proudest, peremptoriest prick alive.
Though safety, law, religion, life lay on 't,
'Twould break through all to make its way to cunt.
Restless he rolls about from whore to whore,
A merry monarch, scandalous and poor.
---To Carwell, the most dear of all his dears,
The best relief of his declining years,
Oft he bewails his fortune, and her fate:
To love so well, and be beloved so late.
For though in her he settles well his tarse,
Yet his dull, graceless ballocks hang an arse.
This you'd believe, had I but time to tell ye
The pains it costs to poor, laborious Nelly,
Whilst she employs hands, fingers, mouth, and thighs,
Ere she can raise the member she enjoys.
---All monarchs I hate, and the thrones they sit on,
---From the hector of France to the cully of Britain.

Here's a

  • A John Wilmot site

  • and here's
  • The Libertine Trailer
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