The Oracle Of Delphi
The Oracle Of Delphi
Zephyr rushes through the gates
Persuading caution softly taken
As the cirrus’ sweetened rapture-
To the presence of the seer. And lo!
Behold the awesome Sibyl!
Wavering as if a lily
Bending to the breeze. Here
Torrents rise, the pungent fumes
Like iridescent afternoons
Spent journeying a clever trip.
The fervoured woman parts her lips:
“Ah! speak oh child of the earth
Unless you come with bitter mirth
To mock a servant of Apollo.”
Here her eyes glaze sunken, hollow
As that famous cavern, wherein
Dido and Aeneas burned
With flames of hard, unbridled passion-
So her visage, so the score.
Thus I raise with fearful pride
The impetus to seek the lyre:
“Sibyl of the wise Apollo
Seeing all that Fate will follow
Wrestling with your bonds deorum,
Crying out, adjacent Thrace:
I have heard the brilliant god
Was wounded by the sodden
Arrow flung so cruelly by
That Eros, fired out by
Crippling fate. Could it be
That he has left us hearing
Naught but fading squander
Hoping with laconic wander
Staring at the sun?”
Here the threshold, yet ajar,
Exploded with uneven din-
Rushing past were rushing petals
Raging forth like Zephyr’s wind
Here the Sibyl tore asunder
Deified celestial slumber
Growing bold in size and manner
Speaking as the sky:
“Leave the lantern of this place!
Apollo perished by the hand
Of Hyacinth, that nobleman
Beloved by all, his discus pulled
By jealous swish. And thus
You pray, contained in vain, your fit
Unsoothed by softened ears.
Now flee before regretful tears
Of Zephyr, who, perceptive, hears
His angry murder, and returns
With equal force the gusty look;
Make an exit, or be wise
Assuming cleverest disguise.”
Here I dash from cursed enchantress
Screeching as had the Acanthus
Learning of the fate
Of his fast lover from before.
All the petals softly wilting
Gasping as a woman mourning
Men who loved her not for whoring
But for essence, and the rub
Of meaning in foreboding landscape,
Peeling through obscurèd verses:
That of love and of it fractured
Eagerly by poignant hazard
Here the tale demands an end
For spirits forth, malignant send.