The Minotaur (a Tribute to W. H. Auden)
A maze was not enough
To daunt the truly dauntless,
Those for whom the turns
Were negotiable after a while,
Those whose cunning and guile
Found the corridors hauntless
Euclides, they’d learned.
Geometry was their Love.
The rabble blustered in,
As rabbles are wont to do.
Each made his feckless way
To dead ends and to death.
Each with his final breath
Cresting his lips, construed
His want for food that day
Unequal to his sin.
The copulation of
Maddened Pasiphae
Produced Asterion,
Devourer of Men.
The Gate would open. Then,
Along the corridors long,
Those who found their way
Still died for Minos’ love.
Monstrosities submitted
By Gods, monstrous themselves,
Will kill the men of wit
As surely as the dull.
The terrible head of a bull,
Sinew, sweat and grit
Slew the Greeks by twelves,
Atrocities committed.
The dullards and well read
Fell equally under his hand
And were the monster’s feast
In the labyrinth at dusk.
Lo!, the smell of musk!
The body of a man!
The visage of a beast!
Fear and a broad brown head.
BIO: Eric Robert Nolan graduated from Mary Washington College in 1994 with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. He spent several years a news reporter and editorial writer for the Culpeper Star Exponent in Culpeper, Virginia. His work has also appeared on the front pages of numerous newspapers in Virginia, including The Free Lance – Star and The Daily Progress. Eric entered the field of philanthropy in 1996, as a grant writer for nonprofit healthcare organizations.
Eric’s poetry has been featured by Every Day Poets, Dead Beats Literary Blog, Dagda Publishing, The International War Veterans’ Poetry Archive, and elsewhere.
A maze was not enough
To daunt the truly dauntless,
Those for whom the turns
Were negotiable after a while,
Those whose cunning and guile
Found the corridors hauntless
Euclides, they’d learned.
Geometry was their Love.
The rabble blustered in,
As rabbles are wont to do.
Each made his feckless way
To dead ends and to death.
Each with his final breath
Cresting his lips, construed
His want for food that day
Unequal to his sin.
The copulation of
Maddened Pasiphae
Produced Asterion,
Devourer of Men.
The Gate would open. Then,
Along the corridors long,
Those who found their way
Still died for Minos’ love.
Monstrosities submitted
By Gods, monstrous themselves,
Will kill the men of wit
As surely as the dull.
The terrible head of a bull,
Sinew, sweat and grit
Slew the Greeks by twelves,
Atrocities committed.
The dullards and well read
Fell equally under his hand
And were the monster’s feast
In the labyrinth at dusk.
Lo!, the smell of musk!
The body of a man!
The visage of a beast!
Fear and a broad brown head.
BIO: Eric Robert Nolan graduated from Mary Washington College in 1994 with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. He spent several years a news reporter and editorial writer for the Culpeper Star Exponent in Culpeper, Virginia. His work has also appeared on the front pages of numerous newspapers in Virginia, including The Free Lance – Star and The Daily Progress. Eric entered the field of philanthropy in 1996, as a grant writer for nonprofit healthcare organizations.
Eric’s poetry has been featured by Every Day Poets, Dead Beats Literary Blog, Dagda Publishing, The International War Veterans’ Poetry Archive, and elsewhere.
Love that last stanza, particularly the last line, depicting the fearsome Minotaur-- "Fear and a broad brown head." This poet has really captured the feel and excitement of an ancient Greek epic poem.
ReplyDeleteWhy thank you, Tina!! :-)
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