'Come here, my darling, my Antigone,
brave rebel to Creon's unjust law*
whom I transformed from tear to devotee*.
No chariot of mine would you now draw,*
I would beg a further, more urgent task
would you sacrifice your finest plumage?
Thirty are needed, I would not ask
were oars not crucial to sea-faring usage.'
The compliant white dove coos her consent,
staunchly plucks out her finest specimens
firmly ignoring the gory torment
for she feels beholden to make amends.
Drawing two items from silvered girdle,
she binds with feathers and sprigs of myrtle.
*Creon declares that, as punishment, Polynices' body must be left on the plain outside the city to rot and be eaten by animals. Eteocles, on the other hand, had been buried as tradition warranted. Antigone determines this to be unjust, immoral and against the laws of the gods, and is determined to bury her brother regardless of Creon's law.
*Aphrodite here reveals (it's a scoop, folks!!!) that although Antigone did indeed hang herself after she was walled up as punishment for her crimes, that Aphrodite appeared in her dying moments and collected the tear that fell as she expired. This was then transformed into an immortal dove, a bird of power and love.
*Doves were said to draw Aphrodite's heavenly chariot.
*The magical girdle of Aphrodite had the power to inspire the passion of desire.
*The myrtle is sacred to Aphrodite.
YOU ARE READING
Dragonish
PoetryPART 1: Seven poems that explore love. The sated wind doodles mischievously no longer the ravening raptor loosed that scratched sharp claws to my unfettered glee. Now are you temperate, husky, obtuse. PART 2: Follows the tale of a persecuted dragon...
