Among the stories of Great Romances, there are always those tragic tales of great love that never was.

The song “You’re Beautiful” by James Blunt is an ode to just such a tale. Woven into the delicate melody is the deep melancholy of a man who has fallen in love at first sight with a woman he cannot hope to have as his own. He begins almost hopefully, perhaps caught up in those first few moments of heart-stopping attraction:

My life is brilliant
My love is pure.
I saw an angel.
Of that I’m sure.
She smiled at me on the subway.
She was with another man.
But I won’t lose no sleep on that,
‘Cause I’ve got a plan.

But the true nature of the situation soon invades his thinking and reason pushes aside those blinding moments when the heart soars.

You’re beautiful.
You’re beautiful.
You’re beautiful, it’s true.
I saw your face in a crowded place,
And I don’t know what to do,
‘Cause I’ll never be
with you.

It’s a brilliant stroke that the song leaves us never sure if the singer is simply recalling an event or if this was a deep fantasy of an unbalanced man.

Yes, she caught my eye,
As we walked on by.
She could see from my face that I was,
Flying high,
And I don’t think that I’ll see her again,
But we shared a moment that will last ’till the end.

The video clears any doubts as to the depth of his feelings about this woman he has seen only in a passing moment. As he sings the last verse, he removes his shirt and shoes, empties his pockets and lines them up in front of him in a methodical and orderly fashion.

You’re beautiful. You’re beautiful.
You’re beautiful, it’s true.
I saw your face in
a crowded place,
And I don’t know what to do,
‘Cause I’ll never be with you.

As the realization of the futility of this love takes over his consciousness, the singer leaps from a high wall into the sea and the last few lines of despair ring out as he hits the water.

You’re beautiful. You’re beautiful.
You’re beautiful, it’s true.
There must be an angel with a smile on her face,
When she thought up that I should be with you.
But it’s time to face the truth,
I will never be with you.

You’re Beautiful Video - James Blunt

Odysseus was the king of Ithaca, a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, and he was persuaded to participate in the war against Troy. That war went on for ten years and gave rise to the famous stories of Achilles, Hector and the Wooden Horse. When Troy fell, the Greeks departed for home, most of them getting back pretty soon thereafter.

But not poor old Odysseus. For some reason, the sea god Poseidon had become annoyed with Odysseus and sent him a series of misadventures that prevented his homecoming. For ten more years, Odysseus wandered the Mediterranean, always trying to get back to Ithaca but never quite managing it.

When he finally did return, he found that his wife, Penelope, who had remained true to him all that time, was beset by suitors, no doubt all with their eyes on the throne. After twenty years, it seemed that Odysseus must be dead, they claimed, and it was time Penelope married again.

In desperation at the constant nagging, Penelope declared that she would marry whoever could draw the mighty bow of Odysseus (why he’d left it behind, I don’t know). All the suitors tried and failed and then Odysseus, disguised as a beggar, entered and drew it with ease. And they all lived happily ever after.

But consider the steadfast love that kept Penelope going through those twenty years of separation. She never despaired, even though she must have known that all the other Greeks had returned. Her husband might be delayed in getting home from the office but he would make it eventually, she was sure.

And Odysseus too never wavered or cast sidelong looks at another during his travels. It seems very likely that there was a great romance behind the bare bones of the story that Homer allows us.

Clive