Jane Austen's Emma In A Cinematised Form Poem by Gayathri Seetharam

Jane Austen's Emma in a cinematised form
-Gayathri B. Seetharam
I saw the book made into a movie again
For the first time around,
It was Douglas McGrath who did the honours
And this time around also, in Autumn De Wilde's directed movie,
It was a wonderful display of direction and acting;

The one enduring aspect of Jane Austen's books
Is that the narrative is very good
And the style of composition does not have you
Reaching out for the dictionary all the time;

I, to match a few lines from the movie
And compare its authenticity with that of the book,
Purchased a Google Play version of Jane Austen's Complete Set of Novels for a $0.71
And here is what I found from my treasure hunt;

The phrases, intellectual solitude AND solitary female walking
Seemed to find a kindred spirit in me
Of course, being a mother of a twenty one year old son,
I don't go looking for Harriet Smiths to match make;

I am a mama who longs for my son to be the soul of "success supposes endeavour"
In the sense that his success supports endeavour
And he does his fond parents credit
With his anti-Emma Woodhouse nature, I hope;

As Mr. Knightley observes both in the motion picture and book,
"Emma will never subject herself to anything requiring industry and patience",
And the book continues, "and a subjection of the fancy to the understanding"
But mind you, I observe that the fancy being the superior to the understanding
Would embellish a fictional writer's imagination to a certain extent;

As I saw in the movie and confirmed from the book, the heroine painting the portrait
Of her protegee for whom she is hoping to make an eligible match,
Unmindful in a generous way that she herself is in the marriage market,
Says, "It would be such a delight to have her picture"
And whence comes the oft repeated phrase, to have my picture taken;

As a 51 year old who occasionally does find it difficult to repress her school girl giggle,
I make a token protest about the fact that Mr. Knightley in the book,
Congratulates Emma on having cured Harriet Smith of her school-girl's giggle
And saying that the transformed Harriet does Emma credit.