Orlando

The next century begins with a cloud hanging over all of London. Dampness seeps in everywhere. The architecture of the country changes. Gardens become overgrown with ivy. Fashion and food also change. These changes also manifest in the English people. Men have a chill in their hearts, and the sexes grow more distant. The British Empire comes into existence. Writing itself swells.

Orlando goes to her country home. The walls have been overgrown with so much ivy that her house is dark inside. She finds it cold. According to her housekeeper, Queen Victoria is wearing a crinoline to hide her pregnancy. She does so because women of the time, the biographer says, were expected to hide their pregnancy out of modesty. The housekeeper’s comment causes Orlando to blush, as she thinks about how she must get her own crinoline soon.

Pulling her poem from her bosom, Orlando thinks about how she began “The Oak Tree” nearly 300 years ago. She notes how the poem changes as she matures. Even if there are some changes, both she and her poem remain the same at their cores. Orlando begins to work on her poem. Her hand is controlled by an external force that causes poetry to flow from her pen without a conscious thought.