He was one of the greatest poets of the English language, a difficult and dense writer of the Romantic period who might have rivaled Shakespeare had he lived past the tragically young age of 25.

And pretty soon he’s coming to a theater near you, enthused Abbie Cornish, who was flush with emotion talking about her upcoming film based on the life of poet John Keats, called Bright Star.

“I’ve read a fair bit of his poetry and, you know, the thing that strikes me is that for someone so young, he can just indulge in moments of great beauty,” she said, echoing the statements of everyone who’s ever read “Ode on a Grecian Urn” or “Ode to a Nightingale,” or any of Keats’ great works. “Things that are quite sensory, and emotive, and colorful, and textured, and romantic. You get affected in reading his words and kind of flush. They’re timeless.”

The girl who could’ve been James’ girl, will instead be Johnny’s, as Cornish is set to star as Fanny Brawne, Keats’ English love interest. The two exchanged letters (hers were destroyed upon his death), but the romance always seemed more one-sided than not. Ultimately, the pair separated when Keats was forced to move for his health (he had tuberculosis).

But while the love affair died, it’s memory will live on forever in verse, Cornish declared.

“They fell incredibly in love but they weren’t allowed to be together. Keats passes away quite young, but towards the end he writes you know this poem called ‘Bright Star,’” the 25-year-old actress described. “It’s about how much he loves her. I guess the thing I found really beautiful about that, there’s a pain that comes through in there. There’s this sense that she’s his most favorite thing in the whole wide world that he loves so dearly.”

The film is to be directed by Jane Campion.

Source: MTV Movies Blog