In the Angel finale 5.22 Not Fade Away, Spike finally has a chance to read his poetry to an appreciative audience. Here is the full poem that he was writing in a flashback in 5.07 Fool For Love:
“My soul is wrapped in harsh repose,
midnight descends in raven-colored clothes,
but soft-behold!
A sunlight beam
cutting a swath of glimmering gleam.
My heart expands,
’tis grown a bulge in it,
inspired by your beauty….
effulgent.”
Spike recites the poem in a biker bar and the crowd love it. Whilst they are applauding, Spike shouts,
“That was for Cecily! All right. This next one’s called The Wanton Folly of Me Mum.”
This is a reference to 7.17 Lies My Parents Told Me, when we saw Spike’s mother make a pass at him.
In 5.04 Hell Bound, Angel finally tells Spike that:
“Yeah, I never told anybody about this, but I… I liked your poems.”
Related episodes: 5.04 Hell Bound, 5.07 Fool For Love, 5.22 Not Fade Away, 7.17 Lies My Parents Told Me
Comments on this trivia
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tadpole on August 2nd, 2005 at 11:48 pm
Hysterical scene. It’s interesting that even after all the years, he’s still hurting from Cecily’s rejection, as evidenced by the fact that he has to drink himself stupid in order to get the courage to read his poems.
I love that he finally gets the validation. (Though Angel did admit that he liked Spike’s poetry.)
NotFadeAway on March 3rd, 2006 at 2:58 pm
The moment that everyone cheers for Spike’s poem is so cool. It’s my favorite moment of Angel and I love that he gets that validation.
All4Spike on April 22nd, 2006 at 3:06 am
I can’t help wondering if Spike ever wrote any poetry about Buffy. I think it would fit perfectly into his season 5 unrequited love for her… wouldn’t it?
tadpole on April 22nd, 2006 at 8:11 am
bollocks.
cavemen or astronauts?
(and, no, the astronauts do not have weapons.)
NotFadeAway on June 5th, 2006 at 3:36 pm
It would make sense for Spike to write some poetry about Buffy in season five. It would fit in well with the whole obession-area that Buffy found in “Crush.”
tadpole on June 6th, 2006 at 7:18 am
Surely Spike has written poetry about Buffy. He must have, given his nature, this is quite the opportunity for fanfic.
TwoToGo-Grave on June 6th, 2006 at 10:50 am
It would be neat to see if he did write any, and if so, was it all lovey-dovey, or was it more conflicted like his song in the musical?
Wynter on August 12th, 2006 at 4:44 pm
I loved this scene in Not Fade Away. It was a really cool and sweet thing to happen for Spike, since the show made a whole point of saying his poetry was absolutely rubbish. To turn that on its head was a nice touch.
doublegrr on October 17th, 2006 at 5:43 am
I had to watch this scene over and over. I was so happy to see him get some recognition. It was hilarious and yet emotional.
Also some of the scenes he had with Illyria.
drewgoddardismyhero on January 6th, 2007 at 2:00 am
“It would be neat to see if he did write any, and if so, was it all lovey-dovey, or was it more conflicted like his song in the musical?”
i bet it would be conflicted because he has honed that tough attitude so well since he was sired that i think the lovey dovey william is less and less (like in seeing red when he says love is for old marrieds)….”spike” poetry would probably sound a lot like the speech he gives the buffy mannequin!!
blutortu on May 3rd, 2007 at 11:53 am
Or maybe something composed during the “Something Blue” era? Wouldn’t put it past that sort of doting Spike to pen a little something.
HarFang on April 15th, 2008 at 1:17 am
The Something Blue era ends right at the end of the episode, as far as we know. And considering how obsessed Spike is when he builds that mannequin, I shudder to think what kind of poetry he could write… And to be honest, his poems ARE rubbish, so it’s really cute that Angel, no, Angelus, liked his poems ! I mean, Angelus ?! Who offered Drusilla a dripping heart for Valentine’s Day ?
(And Spike’s reaction seems to confirm that he is not too proud of his own poetry).