A Room with a View is a 1986 Academy Award-winning feature film, with a screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. The film was directed by James Ivory and produced by Ismail Merchant.

pensione in Italy that Lucy meets elderly Mr. Emerson and his handsome son, George. These men, although English, represent the forward-thinking ideals of the turn-of-the-century. They are the living embodiment of change, seeking to leave behind the repression and caution that was the norm in Victorian times. At first, the two Emerson men seem strange and unfamiliar to Lucy and Charlotte. However, as Lucy begins her journey to maturity and selfhood, she finds herself drawn to the men, especially the handsome George.

Lucy and her chaperone have dinner in the formal dinning room and sit across from Mr. Emerson and George. Lucy mentions to them that their room has no view. The two men, who have a view, switch rooms with them.    

Later in the story, in an unguarded moment, George embraces and passionately kisses Lucy as she approaches him to ask a question. The scene takes place in a rural barley field, but is seen by chaperone Charlotte and quickly stopped. George’s lust and unrestrained passion shocks Lucy, but lights a secret desire and romance in her heart for the handsome young man.

Upon returning to England, Lucy forgets her passionate kiss and brief friendship with George Emerson. She accepts a marriage proposal from an uptight, emotionally impotent, arrogant man named Cecil Vyse. Assuming that she will never see George Emerson again, Lucy moves forward with Cecil. However, she soon learns that both George and his father have moved to her small village and will be neighbors in her community.

At first, Lucy seems happy and pleased to make an engagement with Cecil, who is a respected and wealthy man. They both seem destined to follow a path of doing what is expected of them, reacting in a dispassionate way to life, and never experiencing any fluctuations of emotions. Lucy’s innocence and desire to be the perfect young English lady suggest that she would prefer Cecil’s safety and stability. Her passionate piano playing suggests that deeper emotions lie beneath the surface of Lucy’s cool, calm exterior. The appearance of George Emerson soon disrupts her plans and forces her to make a choice between the dull, dry security she would find with Cecil or the wild uncertainty she would have with George.

In the novel, the first few lines of the poem, Come Down, O Maid, by Alfred Tennyson,  is recited by Cecil (chapter 9 – Lucy as a Work of Art):  

Lucy had not attended either. Her brow was wrinkled, and she still looked furiously cross–the result, he concluded, of too much moral gymnastics. It was sad to see her thus blind to the beauties of an August wood.

“‘Come down, O maid, from yonder mountain height,'” he quoted, and touched her knee with his own.

She flushed again and said: “What height?”

“‘Come down, O maid, from yonder mountain height, What pleasure lives in height (the shepherd sang). In height and in the splendour of the hills?’

Let us take Mrs. Honeychurch’s advice and hate clergymen no more. What’s this place?”

“Summer Street, of course,” said Lucy, and roused herself.

Come Down, O maid
by Alfred Tennyson

Come down, O maid, from yonder mountain height:
What pleasure lives in height (the shepherd sang)
In height and cold, the splendour of the hills?
But cease to move so near the Heavens, and cease
To glide a sunbeam by the blasted Pine,
To sit a star upon the sparkling spire;
And come, for Love is of the valley, come,
For Love is of the valley, come thou down
And find him; by the happy threshold, he,
Or hand in hand with Plenty in the maize,
Or red with spirted purple of the vats,
Or foxlike in the vine; nor cares to walk
With Death and Morning on the silver horns,
Nor wilt thou snare him in the white ravine,
Nor find him dropt upon the firths of ice,
That huddling slant in furrow-cloven falls
To roll the torrent out of dusky doors:
But follow; let the torrent dance thee down
To find him in the valley; let the wild
Lean-headed Eagles yelp alone, and leave
The monstrous ledges there to slope, and spill
Their thousand wreaths of dangling water-smoke,
That like a broken purpose waste in air:
So waste not thou; but come; for all the vales
Await thee; azure pillars of the hearth
Arise to thee; the children call, and I
Thy shepherd pipe, and sweet is every sound,
Sweeter thy voice, but every sound is sweet;
Myriads of rivulets hurrying thro’ the lawn,
The moan of doves in immemorial elms,
And murmuring of innumerable bees.

A Room With a View

After a period of living in Lucy’s small village, the Emerson men decide that they do not fit in with the locals. The two men make plans to move out of their home, and find a more open-minded place to live.

Just as she is about to leave Windy Corner to set out on an independent adventure, she reunites with George Emerson; they elope to Florence.

I love happy endings, don’t you ?

Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson(6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom and is one of the most popular English poets.

Much of his verse was based on classical mythological themes, although In Memoriam was written to commemorate his best friend Arthur Hallam, a fellow poet and classmate at Trinity College, Cambridge, who was engaged to Tennyson’s sister, but died from acerebral hemorrage before they were married. One of Tennyson’s most famous works is Idylls of the king (1885), a series of narrative poems based entirely on King Arthur and the Arthurian tales, as thematically suggested by Sir Thomas Malory’s earlier tales on the legendary king. The work was dedicated to Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria. During his career, Lord Tennyson attempted drama, but his plays enjoyed little success even in his lifetime.

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delete reply jayaramanms wrote on Mar 18, ’08 It seems”A Room with a view” is an excellent  Novel. The film was a co-production by Indian producer Ismail Merchant. The poem and song are very beautiful and I love the song. Thank you for sharing. Please see my blog on Poetry Wednesday at – http://jayaramanms.multiply.com/journal/item/91/POETRY_WEDNEDAY_-_HOT_CROSS_BUNS

delete reply starfishred wrote on Mar 18, ’08 Lovely book and the movie was well done a classic-the poem is very nice and of course the music is super

edit delete reply lauritasita wrote on Mar 18, ’08 Thanks Heidi. I couldn’t resist adding the music.

delete reply philsgal7759 wrote on Mar 18, ’08 excellent connections Thy shepherd pipe, and sweet is every sound, Sweeter thy voice, but every sound is sweet; Myriads of rivulets hurrying thro’ the lawn, The moan of doves in immemorial elms, And murmuring of innumerable bees. We are all definitely ready for spring!

edit delete reply lauritasita wrote on Mar 18, ’08 Narice, I love those words, too. Thanks for commenting.

delete reply sanssouciblogs wrote on Mar 18, ’08 Loved the movie! Love the music! There is NOTHING like Italy to restore the heart, the soul and the spirit. NOTHING! It just brings out the best! Great video! Oh right, there’s a poem! Ahem, almost forgot! Notice how there is a thread of adjectives of color throughout painting a picture. Wonderful. Now YOU should go to Italy!

delete reply skeezicks1957 wrote on Mar 19, ’08 Very nicely done.

edit delete reply lauritasita wrote on Mar 19, ’08 The story is so nice, I almost forgot to post the poem.

delete reply asolotraveler wrote on Mar 19, ’08 nice music, nice words, nice film

delete reply bostonsdandd wrote on Mar 19, ’08 The poem, to me, seems to be telling the woman to come down off her perch and let love heal her wounds. I can see why it was used in the movie LOL. Very nice presentation! You make Poetry Wednesday so exciting to tour. I love how you tie it all together.

edit delete reply lauritasita wrote on Mar 19, ’08 Yes bostonsdandd, I get the same feeling from reading this poem, too.

delete reply sweetpotatoqueen wrote on Mar 19, ’08 Gorgeous,gorgeous music..and the poem has such lush imagery. I stayed here and lingered …wonderful !

edit delete reply lauritasita wrote on Mar 19, ’08 Thank you for your sweet comment, sweetpotatoqueen !  You can stay and linger as long as you want. I love hanging out on your page, too, when I read your poems, LOL !!!

delete reply zafreud wrote on Mar 21, ’08, edited on Mar 21, ’08 You’ve hit a sensitive cord in me once again!…Sometimes I’m struck by the affinities of our preferences…It’s one of my favorite movies ever: an excellent cast (especially Daniel Day Lewis is my top favorite actor, ever since “The unbearable lightness of being” – not to mention the awesome sequence of movies that followed!!!), a magical scenery, an effective approach to the book, an artful visualization (the shots and photography of the scene create painting-like frames)…Oh, one of the timeless movies!!! As for the poem, an-all-times classic!!! A great Thank You once more, dear Laurita!!!

edit delete reply lauritasita wrote on Mar 21, ’08 Thank you, zafreud, your comment was so encouraging. Yes, this story is so timeless.