The Cave of Apollo
Trembling with rage on the thimble point
of the mount, shock-headed Zeus
lifted his arms in gesticulations
far out at sea the gales turned
to tiny floats the boats of the fishermen
and the waves upon cornered shores
bounded with riders
who reared on horses of death
lightning, was bolted
and the blue heavens sundered
the crash and the crack roared
like a whale through a sea of perditions
the stars shot meteoric
their red tails gleaming
as the molten liquids moved
in measured calms
and Zeus shock-headed shook upon the crag
and down below the villages were blighted
with snow
and the packed ice rimmed their windowsills
and the old and young women
turned ashen as they supplicated
but the altars of Love were warm
untouched and from the cave
Apollo’s light radiated upon the waters
as he lay lightly in the arms of Love
No thought could penetrate
No bolt harm
No night dark shadow of Hecate
o’er spread the bed and the net
and stars in perfumed arcs
and flowering cones
as white roses embraced
rose in signs and shapes
and the flute which played lulled
the currents of air
as Aphrodite lay light and dreaming
with her long hair floating
in the winds
as she lay couched with Apollo’s love
and the shock of the seas she heard not
as her eyes drifted
in the dream of his palace
and the moons in her face
lit up with powder-blue stardust
Upon the crag
Zeus fought back the tears of rage
and mighty were the rivers
that swam down
and then as he looked
Swans by their thousands had risen
to the heavens
and Apollo had returned to his palace
and Zeus looked down
to the valleys and he saw a beauty
whom he deemed more enchanting
than Aphrodite
and the swans swam ever upon his mind’s eye
And the maiden’s shape stayed with him
till he too swooned
and Leda journeyed on her way
not knowing about her
the cloud which enshrouded her
and far out at sea
Aphrodite swam with the seals
and she held the keys to Love
And Zeus recalled the swans
And Apollo the beauty of all things
And Aphrodite tied the keys of love
in her hair.
Hecate was the daughter of Asteria (Leto's sister) and Perses the god of destruction. She was associated with crossroads, entrance-ways, light, magic, witchcraft, knowledge of herbs and poisonous plants, ghosts, necromancy, and sorcery. She held the keys to the underworld and Tartaros, the prison for the Titans and a dungeon of torment and suffering. She was worshiped in Athenian households as a protective goddess who bestowed prosperity and daily blessings on the family. In the 1st century Marcus Annaeus Lucanus described her as a "rotting goddess" with a "pallid decaying body" who had to wear a mask when she visited the gods in heaven. Later, neoplatonist philosophers assigned her some rulership over earth, sea, and sky, as well as a more universal role as Savior (Soteira), Mother of Angels, and the Cosmic World Soul. She was generally represented as three-formed.
ReplyDelete