Mythology; Mythology, Greek -- Juvenile literature
But Eros, who had loved her ever, with a love that knew the ebb and
flow of no tides, rose from his bed and went in search of her who had
braved even the horrors of Hades for his dear sake. And by the wayside
he found her, fettered by sleep. Her little oval face was white as a
snowdrop. Like violets were her heavy eyelids, and underneath her
sleeping eyes a violet shadow lay. Once had her mouth been as the bow
of Eros, painted in carmine. Now either end of the bow was turned
downwards, and its colour was that of a faded rose-leaf.
And as Eros looked at her that he loved, pity stirred his heart, as
the wind sweeps through the sighing, grey leaves of the willow, or
sings through the bowing reeds.
"My _Belovèd_!" he said, and he knew that Psyche was indeed his
beloved. It was her fair soul that he loved, nor did it matter to him
whether her body was like a rose in June or as a wind-scourged tree in
December. And as his lips met hers, Psyche awoke, and heard his soft
whisper:
"Dear, unclose thine eyes.
Thou mayst look on me now. I go no more,
But am thine own forever."
Lewis Morris.
Then did there spring from the fair white shoulders of Psyche, wings
of silver and of gold, and, hand in hand with Eros, she winged her way
to Olympus.
And there all the deathless gods were assembled, and Aphrodite no
longer looked upon her who had once been her slave with darkened
brows, but smiled upon her as the sun smiles upon a new-born flower.
And when into the hand of Psyche there was placed a cup of gold, the
voice of the great Father and King of Olympus rang out loud and clear:
"Drink now, O beautiful, and have no fear!
For with this draught shalt thou be born again,
And live for ever free from care and pain."
William Morris.
In this wise did Psyche, a human soul, attain by bitter suffering to
the perfect happiness of purified love.
And still do we watch the butterfly, which is her emblem, bursting
from its ugly tomb in the dark soil, and spreading joyous white and
gold-powdered wings in the caressing sunshine, amidst the radiance and
the fragrance of the summer flowers. Still, too, do we sadly watch her
sister, the white moth, heedlessly rushing into pangs unutterable,
thoughtlessly seeking the anguish that brings her a cruel death.
THE CALYDONIAN HUNT
Œneus and Althæa were king and queen of Calydon, and to them was
born a son who was his mother's joy and yet her bitterest sorrow.
Meleager was his name, and ere his birth his mother dreamed a dream
that the child that she bore was a burning firebrand. But when the
baby came he was a royal child indeed, a little fearless king from the
first moment that his eyes, like unseeing violets, gazed steadily up
at his mother. To the chamber where he lay by his mother's side came
the three Fates, spinning, ceaselessly spinning.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account