.

When the goddesses came by the light of the dawn,
They were greeted with music, and what did they see,
But a flute that was pressed to the lips of a Faun
As he leaned up against a deciduous tree;

As the melody played he stepped out from the shade,
And the ladies were prompted to follow his lead,
From the forested grove to a welcoming glade,
That in turn opened up to a flowering mead;

And they giggled with glee when Apollo appeared,
And his cohorts presented a wreath for each head;
By the hand they were led to a place that was cleared
For the taking of ease on a cushiony bed;

They were seated before a delectable feast:
There were cheeses and fruits and amphorae of wine,
And ambrosias and nectars from far to the east,
And in no time at all they proceeded to dine;

So they quaffed of the drink and they ate of the grape,
And their singing was loud, till above in the sky
Came a thunderous clap and their mouths fell agape;
But a search of the heavens bedeviled their eye,

For the sky was as clear as could be; and then out
Of the west there appeared a mysterious cloud;
But the closer it came there was nary a doubt
That the king of the gods had sent Pegasus. Cowed

Into silence, they watched him alight on the ground,
And as warning against their indulgence and mirth,
With a kick of his hoof made a clangorous sound,
That gave birth to a murmuring spring in the earth;

And it dazzled their eyes to see breaks in the sod,
And a spraying of water so bright and so clean,
That they bowed to the steed, who with whinny and nod,
Had created a fountain—Hippocrene!

.

.

Cheryl Corey’s recent credits include the current issue of Iconoclast and www.grand-little-things.com. Other publications include Iambs & Trochees, Deronda, The NeoVictorian/Cochlea, The Comstock Review, Mobius, and Time of Singing. In 2007 she received 1st Place for the Dylan Thomas Award and Honorable Mention for the June Kraeft Memorial Award in The World Order of Narrative and Formalist Poets contest.

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12 Responses

  1. Margaret Coats

    And do the young goddesses drink the spring water, learn to craft their clamor by measure, and thus become the Muses? Very well done measures on your part, Cheryl! I see you have signaled the end of the poem with a shorter line, or I might expect to hear of a poetess approaching the fountain!

    Reply
  2. Joe Tessitore

    I had to look up Hippocrene and it was well worth the effort!
    A beautiful poem with, as Margaret points out, an admirable meter that makes for a remarkable read – very well done, indeed!

    Reply
  3. Paul Freeman

    Very nicely done, Cheryl. The atmosphere you created in your poem brought back those Sunday afternoon TV showings of Jason and the Argonauts and going to the cinema as a kid to see the original Clash of the Titans.

    Reply
  4. D.G. Rowe

    A rip-roaring delivery of Hellenistic majesty and magnificence, with enough left over to make the heart of Pan skip a beat, and the bones of Swinburne come alive in his grave.
    Craftmanship and subject combine beautifully to feed the the imaginal exquisitely. Succulent meter for the tongues pleasure.

    One of the best I’ve read on the SCP in the last few months.

    Bloody great this, cheers.

    Reply
    • Cheryl Corey

      I’m so glad that you enjoyed it. I had been wanting for some time to write a poem based on the myth of Pegasus sent by Zeus to quiet the partying gods. Once the opening lines came to me, and the meter and rhyme established, I let my imagination run wild. I’m pretty happy with the result.

      Reply
      • D.G. Rowe

        I’m happy with the result also.

        Yes, It is a great boon when those first lines come together so amorously and then off you go in such lovely effortless penmanship, eh!

        I think rightly that you would enjoy most greatly the poetry of Algernon Swinburne. If you haven’t up till now read Swinburne in great depth. I recommend taking a read of these peoms, and then, I have no doubt that you will become totally enthralled, and be enchained to his verse in perpetuity.

        Introduce your self by reading: The Palace of Pan, Loch Torridon, The Garden of Proserpine, The First Choral Song from Atalanta in Calydon, An Interlude.

        Cheers for the peom, and well done the editor for selecting it.

        All the best.

  6. Susan Jarvis Bryant

    Cheryl, I love the pictures your stanzas paint in this smile of a poem… just what we need in these dark times. Thank you!

    Reply
  7. David Watt

    Cheryl, you really brought Greek mythology to life. It was an excellent choice of meter and a pleasure to read.

    Reply
  8. Peter Hartley

    Cheryl – there is nothing like tetrameter for a poem to gallop along, as this does so successfully, with a stirring tale from the ancient Greeks. I like the word cushiony, which I’ve never seen before, and now I’m pleased to say I know what the Hippocrene fountain was and the relevance of the “hippo” bit of it! Very well done!

    Reply
  9. C.B. Anderson

    Galloping anapests, Cheryl! You stayed on course until the very last line of the poem, which disappointed me. Why spoil perfect meter in this manner?

    Reply

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