O Muse, grant me but strength to set these lines Of torment and of woe onto this black Depository of incessant song: This tale of tears cannot abundance bear Of stanzas, unlike Homer, Milton, Keats; You will, therefore, need only exhale six ----Then gracefully glide back to your repose. So, sing! dear Muse, of one whose epithet Is white-armed, born to goddess and to god, Yet destined ne'er to spend her full-time reign In royalty, to drink ambrosia Atop Olympus, highest of the mounts. Persephone, Demeter of the earth And Father Zeus had deigned a worthy name For her; she grew secluded in the trees And flowers of the green and bountiful Elysian-like natural paradise. A lovely day went flower-picking she With nymphs a few, a gay and joyous sight To gaze at----beauty joined with beauty more! The beauty should have lasted. But alack! For suddenly the very earth broke free And out roared fearsome coal-black horses four, Behind them pulling darkness' chariot: Atop stood Hades, eyes aglow with lust. With one fell swoop of divine, pow'rful hand, He grasped Persephone's famous white arm And plunged back into darkness, black heart full Of satisfaction at his newest prize. Implacable Demeter quested days And weeks and months for her beloved, yet Her tear-filled eyes ne'er once beheld the sheen Of her dearest white-armed Persephone. As she went far and wide with heart morose, The land, in sympathy, fell dry and grey; No flower bloomed, no fresh new seedling sprang From ground as arid as Demeter's heart. The sun god Helios could stand no more: He sent her word of what transpired then; And she, with grave and fury-ridden soul Beseeched dear Father Zeus to intervene On her behalf. The people, too, were near Complete extinction; Zeus----he had no choice---- Sent Hermes, the Olympian envoy To bring Persephone back from the land Of death. Yet silent Hades' competent Informants let him know what was to come So that he might connive and not lose all. 'Tis said, once one has taken food or drink Of that which grows but in the underworld, Forevermore must he remain. Hades, The unseen one, plucked from a nearby tree A pomegranate, juicy, ripe, and sweet, And gave it to his newfound queen: white-armed Persephone, not knowing the nice rules Of her own kingdom, lit upon that fruit With such delight, she could not stay her mouth---- One bite was all it took. When Hermes came, He found the ringing voices of the Fates Announcing, "Destiny has been fulfilled: Persephone shall never from this place Be extirpated!" Woeful was the heart Collective of the deities on high; With one exception, though he does not say't, The silent one. Thus, Zeus no better could Negotiate with the unbending Fates Than keeping at Olympus nine months long Persephone, and grudgingly bading To her farewell for those remaining three. The earth itself does mourn her annual Departure; waters dry and leaves grow gold In funeral procession decorum: And then she's gone, and this attire too ----Awaiting the return of Spring anew. -- 英詩板 poetry 大老婆板 first-wife 第二者板 multi-lovers 第三者板 third-person 網誌 http://www.wretch.cc/blog/spacedunce5 個人工作室 http://www.wretch.cc/blog/jsengstudio --

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