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Erthona
~Erthona
| Joined: | Sun Jun 10th, 2007 |
| Location: | Austin, Texas USA |
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| Real First Name: | Dale |
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#1 Posted: Sat Jan 30th, 2010 07:27 am |
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Wolf Moon*
Wolf moon, mustard yellow pregnant, slinks through trees,
shedding color, like water from a young Indian girl’s hair.
It dips and sways on an ice-blue, chilblain breeze,
a pale beryl-veined haughty maiden, aloof and fair.
Yet, no blood will cover this virgin in Armageddon tonight,
beautiful as that entrancing witch, that spectral spirit Geraldine,
who o’er pure Christabel laid, like a hungry aching blight,
when upon her soul she supped, and on innocence did dine.
For her sire, Sir Leoline, did in prideful heart betray,
for his pain had turned to rage, and drove Sir Leoline insane.
In spite he named her as the blame, for her mother’s grave,
and what is named in anger, cannot latter be re-named.
So stay not long under this moon, nor under it do sleep,
for it will stalk you in your dreams, and cause your soul to weep.
©2010 ~Erthona
* The first full moon of the year, is also known as the wolf moon, a name from Algonquin culture. The notion is derived from the idea that hungry wolves howl at the full moon on cold winter nights. Each month brings another full moon name.
Wolf Moon
Snow Moon
Worm Moon
Pink Moon
Flower Moon
Strawberry Moon
Buck Moon
Sturgeon Moon
Harvest Moon
Hunter's Moon
Beaver Moon
Cold Moon
Last edited on Tue Feb 16th, 2010 07:27 am by Erthona
____________________
Please do not take my critique too much to heart,
I would offer Coleridge suggestions on his art.
How long after picking up the brush until the first masterpiece?
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Cappuchino
The Capuchin
| Joined: | Tue Mar 13th, 2007 |
| Location: | Chicago, Illinois USA |
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#2 Posted: Sat Jan 30th, 2010 06:29 pm |
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I'm not familiar with the story. It's well written... a take on the sonnet?
Part of me is a little confused, though, at the clash of cultures. Maybe if I knew the story better I'd understand how it fits with the NAtive American image?
____________________
"We say what we can when we want to speak about the Ineffable One about whom nothing can be said in the proper sense. We must either keep silence or use words in a transformed way."
Isaac of Stella
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Erthona
~Erthona
| Joined: | Sun Jun 10th, 2007 |
| Location: | Austin, Texas USA |
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#3 Posted: Sat Jan 30th, 2010 09:19 pm |
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"Christabel" is a poem by Coleridge set during the time of the fictional "Roland" circa 11th century. She went outside her father's castle to a large oak tree to pray and fell asleep. When she woke, it was 12:45 at night and...
"The night is chilly, but not dark.
The thin gray cloud is spread on high,
It covers but not hides the sky.
The moon is behind, and at the full;
And yet she looks both small and dull.
The night is chill, the cloud is gray"
Actually I take some liberty as Coleridge says this happens in the month before April, and a Wolf moon is the first full moon of the year, which this year is tonight 1/30/2010 (and was the ad hoc inspiration for this poem, or at least the excuse).
But in answer to your query, my poem is a play on the "Christabel" poem. "Christabel" is generally considered to be one of Coleridge's, best along with the "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and "Kubla Khan". Unfortunately like "Kubla Khan" it is unfinished, but unlike "Kubla Khan" which is only several hundred lines long, "Christabel" is much longer, and I think those two things have kept it from being more widely read or taught. But, at least in my opinion, it is at the same level as the other two, making it probably the greatest poem in the English language that few have heard of. Some side trivia: scholars have postulated that it is a precursor to the later vampire stories, as it combines the ideas of sensuality, and sexual, as well as spiritual violation within what will later be referred to as a Gothic setting, although "The Castle of Otranto" predates this poem by about thirty years or so, the genre of Gothic horror had yet to be established. Even so the poem predates the short story ""The Vampyre" by about thirty years (a little trivia, the main character appears to be based on George Lord Byron, who was himself was quite a character!). Certainly "Christabel" could be included in the Gothic genre as it includes many of the elements, but none of the campiness of the earlier sallies into that area.
Although longer than "Kubla Khan", it is still not that long, and a fairly easy read, so I would highly recommend it.
Here is a site with the full text
http://www.erudit.org/revue/ron/1999/v/n15/005869arp003.html
Dale
David,
I wanted to add briefly, Ha! In the poem "Christabel" two things to note, Geraldine faints at the gate, and Christabel has to carry her over it, at which point Geraldine regains her strength, and
"And Christabel devoutly cried,
To the lady by her side,
Praise we the Virgin all divine
Who hath rescued thee from thy distress!
Alas, alas! said Geraldine,
I cannot speak for weariness."
because a vampire/ evil thing cannot agree to the blessing from the virgin, or speak the name. There are other such elements throughout the poem.
Last edited on Sat Jan 30th, 2010 09:31 pm by Erthona
____________________
Please do not take my critique too much to heart,
I would offer Coleridge suggestions on his art.
How long after picking up the brush until the first masterpiece?
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Curslayer
Welsh Wizardry
| Joined: | Fri Apr 20th, 2007 |
| Location: | Kloof, South Africa |
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#4 Posted: Mon Feb 1st, 2010 06:41 am |
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Excuse me! Still not that long? Hmm...it's a lot longer than Kubla but I'm not reviewing Christabel here and it's bloody ages since I read it.
I like your moody write and the images it conjures up...some good strong lines especially lines 1, 3 and 12. Did you mean Cold Noon (a spinoff on High Noon?) or Cold Moon? Worm Moon sort of really throws it off for me unless the satellite cheese is addled.
Rob
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"To think one knows is a step, to know that one knows is the path, to show that one knows is the journey and to be as one knows is the destination." As always: "Know Thyself"
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Erthona
~Erthona
| Joined: | Sun Jun 10th, 2007 |
| Location: | Austin, Texas USA |
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#5 Posted: Mon Feb 1st, 2010 12:49 pm |
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Yes, I am partial to those three lines myself, I think those probably are the better lines in the poem, although each for a different reason. The first for image, the second for rhythm, and the third for the idea. Now if only I could combine all three things in one line, and have a poem completely composed of such lines I might feel I had written something of note. Yeah, that's likely to happen sometime soon!
Thanks for the read.
Dale
____________________
Please do not take my critique too much to heart,
I would offer Coleridge suggestions on his art.
How long after picking up the brush until the first masterpiece?
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