THE MUSE

by Catherine Smith (Oxford)

Sunlight doesn’t reach the alley where she’s born, weeds sprout between pavement tiles; charred meat, spilled beer; the stink of too many unwashed bodies. Ragged children spill from mean, damp dwellings.

And then one night, attending the theatre with her sister, she‘s spotted by two artists. Her beauty overwhelms them; rippling cobalt hair, luscious lips. She’s perfect; becomes Queen Guinevere, Prosperine.

She reinvents herself, from guttersnipe to Lady; proficient in French and Italian, an accomplished pianist. Her embroidery’s exquisite. Morris marries her; Rosetti’s passion never wavers.

She was never destined for a cramped alley, hidden from view; she was made for public life - art, music, lovers. For silk, crystal and champagne; grand houses flooded with sunlight.

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What Catherine Smith says about THE MUSE:

Inspired by a visit to St Helen’s Passage, once known as Hell’s Passage, birthplace, in 1839, to Jane Burden, wife/muse to William Morris.