The Sand and the Hourglass

[AwayAloneAlast]

Here's a little piece I wrote under the spell of Milton fairly recently! Hope its worth something :)

--AAA



The Sand and the Hourglass
To Kendall

I.
The Hourglass drips, and the Sand speaketh:
Am I so hideous to behold for
Thee, lovely girl, that thou should’st in horror
Recoil? Thou, fairest of all Creation,
As befits the last, in whom be all Beauty
Personified, so wondrous that thy Maker
Himself bows before thy miracle?
Why, hideous yet I may be; but once
Like thou was I; brightest star in heavens high;
Now ruin’d to perdition and lowest rung,
Now scorch’d and scath’d with Stygian tongue—
Charred and marred by my only Love!

II.
The Hourglass responds to the falling Sand:
Behold, how the contemner speaketh, who
Laments my justice and authority;
He cries out against forces he cannot
Control, against those that make him as he be.
Watch, how he wallows and slithers upon
The floor of his newfound internal cell—
Uncontent to rest; uncontent to fall.
Oh wonderful creation of mine, like
Him shall you never be. Thy beauty is
Made for eternal eyes, for eternity
Shall it remain. The youth of innocence
Shan’t from thee fade; ‘twould a tragedy be
Too great to bear. Thee shall I crown with a
Thousand stars, even luminous orbs
Are not enough to mask thy majesty
Supremely garbed.

Come now, child,
Take my hand and walk through this our paradise—
Do not think of that withered creature
Who earlier to thee spoke. Follow me
This way now; ere rivers cut canyons
Through this hallowed earth, let us play and
Make merry and forget all—what need worry
Or care? when you with I and I with you
Do hand in hand walk yonder glades through
Till the dawning of orange autumn.


--Tucson, 2007 (c)M.Callaghan

[ShadowFire]

I like the style you used to write this. I took a few times to re-read lines therefore I could comprehend what was said. I could take a lot of deeper meaning from some lines that were said. I enjoyed reading your poem(s). Thank you for sharing.

[AwayAloneAlast]

I like the style you used to write this. I took a few times to re-read lines therefore I could comprehend what was said. I could take a lot of deeper meaning from some lines that were said. I enjoyed reading your poem(s). Thank you for sharing.

Thank you! It's meant to be deeply allegorical, and that probably accounts for some of its difficulty; the first section being about aging (an aged man to a young beauty), and second about the naivete of youth. Throw in some Miltonic influence (section I is Satan speaking to Eve; section II is God speaking to the same) and that's what I was going for.

This is my first attempt at a poem of this kind, so I'm not sure how successful it is! Thanks for reading again :)