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Three Views of Venus

“When you’ve got a goddess, make good use of her.
—local guide, Green Velvet Bedchamber at Houghton Hall, Norfolk

“Ah, Mars, my dear, lay down that spear, and wage
Love in the tender tenor of our way.
Disarm, and let me have the upper hand
For, as you know, I relish your command
And warmly, tremblingly alive, obey.”
“Belligerent Venus, you are bold and sage
In this your combat chamber’s disarray.
Your sway I honor as a promised gage
In battling for the fat of this fair land.”

Often the lady sleeps, to disengage
Herself from topsy turvy tangled play,
But more so when the finest brookside sand
In drowsy eyes releases them for grand
Festivities that only dreams portray.
Both Morpheus and Venus rule the stage
Where nymphs and shepherds amble night and day,
And languid tribulations rarely rage;
She’s lolling on the fat of this fair land.

Awake, she’s served by many a putto page
Who from the trees green velvet swags array;
The Queen of Country Life by zephyrs fanned
Observes white fallow deer attentive stand
While Silvanus invites her to survey
Delights of forest, farm, and pasturage.
Here sport and song and wit and health expand
As charming rustic remedies assuage
Town famine with the fat of this fair land.

Venus prevails in love from age to age;
Her subjects gladly into slumber stray
On rural roads traversing fat, fair land.

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Margaret Coats lives in California.  She holds a Ph.D. in English and American Literature and Language from Harvard University.  She has retired from a career of teaching literature, languages, and writing that included considerable wrk in homeschooling for her own family and others.

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20 Responses

  1. Russel Winick

    Margaret – This poem is so marvelous! I love every line. I could read it all day. In fact, I’ll do just that!

    Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      Hope you had a fine day, Russel! I appreciate the poem all the more myself with this action-oriented opinion from you.

      Reply
  2. Roy Eugene Peterson

    Oh, how much I loved your quote that preceded your wonderful “Three Views of Venus!” The first view of Venus and Mars together in a bedchamber sets the imagination afire with two strong personalities seeking to please and appease. The second view of Venus resting peacefully and then frivolously playing with Morpheus on the stage, while lolling on the “fat of the land,” is another intriguing proposition. The third view as “Queen of Country Life” inhabiting the vernal woods and pastures in a sylvan setting where “sport and song and wit” prevail and from which the town is fed by the wildlife and wild berries (my own imagination) is a vivid depiction and a calming vision of her role.

    There always is so much that you pack into a poem for our own pleasure and enjoyment.

    Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      Thanks, Roy! I love those three views taken from different angles than mine, but nonetheless exploring the riches I always hope to pack into a poem. “Town” at this period and earlier and later meant London, in contrast to the country, and even in contrast to any countryside village or borough. I hadn’t thought of it in particular, but the starving city would benefit by a taste of wildlife and wild berries.

      Reply
  3. Joseph S. Salemi

    This poem is as ornate and embellished with fine 18th-century decor as Houghton Hall itself, and the Green Velvet Bedchamber.

    Pure 18th-century is the mix of antique divinities, sylvan delights, and rustic charm (the touch of “forest, farm, and pasturage”). I also like the intersection of love-play and warfare — an essential thing in the dalliance of Mars and Venus — and the suggested conflict of town and country.

    Excellent art can sometimes step back in time, and conjure up not just images of the past but also its living, breathing soul. That’s what Margaret has done here.

    Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      Thank you very much, Joe. I was able to absorb the life and the air of Houghton Hall, built by Sir Robert Walpole, who is counted as first Prime Minister. My husband and I have visited dozens of country houses during our travels over many years, but this very isolated one was on the wish list for decades. When I heard the room guide’s cheeky remark about the goddess, I stopped and paid close attention to the surroundings. The poem came from three separate tapestries on the walls of the bedroom, picturing Venus in three roles. The one of her as goddess of sleep may have been inspired by Sir Robert himself, who had an elaborate library and office with an ornate day bed for comfortable naps. For Venus as Queen of Country Life, I added the white fallow deer, unique to the estate, to my poem picture. And I chose Silvanus rather than Faunus as her associate in this occupation. As you’re aware of their repute, I’m sure, you know that Faunus can be a troubler of ladies and their dreams, while Silvanus is a more benign host of the woodland.

      Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      Ah, Jeremiah! What splendid sylvan delights from Emily Dickinson! Comparing poems from the same lyric genre doubles the fun. Thanks for coming up with this one. If you go out for an intoxicated nap, I hope you wake up refreshed. Remembering that Emily was “inebriate of air” and a “debauchee of dew,” I’ll offer in return this from Saint Ambrose (later 4th century). “Laeti bibamus sobriam profusionem Spiritus,” or “Gladly let us drink the sober superabundance of the Spirit.” It’s from the morning hymn “Splendor paternae gloriae,” used this time of year. As from my poem to Dickinson’s, this one shifts context yet again, but it’s interesting that Ambrose begins where Emily ends, with high praise for the sun. It’s worth keeping poems from different poets around us, as we’re so easily able to do here.

      Reply
  5. Brian A. Yapko

    Margaret, this is indeed a stunningly beautiful poem which offers a charming return to a more elegant age. If I’m not mistaken, you have offered us a poem in perfect ballade form and the rigorous discipline that goes into such a form — particularly in terms of a highly restricted rhyme-scheme, the use of repetends, and an envoi. You use the form for this subject shows just how versatile a ballade can be! I recall you writing a number of chants royale but do not recall a ballade before. This one is absolutely stunning.

    The use of each stanza to describe a different aspect of Venus is very clever — the goddess of love contrasting with Mars, the sleepy goddess in repose (“lolling” — great word!) and the symbol of fruitfulness — , and the repetend focusing on the “fat of the fair land” ultimately reinforces the generous, healthful, fecund qualities of the goddess. You are not at all shy about depicting her enjoying physical pleasure but you do it so coyly and charmingly — “topsy turvy tangled play.”

    This is an engaging poem which benefits greatly from the rare combination of imagery and form. It’s so very well done, Margaret!

    Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      Thanks so much, Brian, for all your comments, and especially for the summary saying how engaging and well done it is. With a clear three-part division, it’s wonderful to hear how it all works together for you. Notice of “topsy turvy tangled play” as a coy and charming euphemism is a great compliment, showing how every word suits the elegant age I’m visiting here. The subject is out in the open in a bedchamber with Venus visible everywhere, but as in every such work of art (tapestry or poem), it is best touched upon in the most suitable style, and that’s often the greatest challenge to the artist. As you see, it’s in the second stanza rather than the first where it might be expected–but there the dialogue is simply suggestive. That too befits the speakers who approach the topic from different viewpoints–and I go with Venus alone in sleepy smiling satisfaction later.

      You might imagine that I have much to say on the lyric form, and you’re right. However, I need to consult other material for a couple of pertinent quotes, so I’ll be back later for the latest on the ballade.

      Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      This is from Jacques Roubaud, who wrote an absolutely magnificent survey entitled “La Ballade et Le Chant Royal” as a rare small press book in 1998. “In the 20th century there existed no identifiable ‘tradition’ of these forms. . . I hope the descriptive exposition presented here will be able to contribute to their eventual renaissance in the 21st century.”
      Roubaud’s hope is for literature in French, but when I read his book at the Cambridge University Library in May, I thought I would do what I could in English. “Three Views of Venus” is my first effort. The three-part subject suited a ballade, and I decided to keep three as the dominant number. The stanzas are 9 lines long, the rhyme scheme abccbabaC uses three rhyme sounds, and the envoi of 3 lines repeats the last third baC of the pattern for a full stanza. This is a new creation as far as I know. There are plenty of ballades with 9-line stanzas, but all the ones I know use four rhyme sounds with abcd in slight variations, and have an envoi of the more usual half-stanza length (4 or 5 lines long). Therefore I am proposing that any new ‘tradition’ for the ballade family of forms be flexible enough to shape the lyric in accord with the subject matter. I did this in one special way by assigning each line of the envoi to correspond to the subject in one of the three full stanzas. Of course to maintain ballade identity, I find it necessary to keep the same rhyme sounds throughout, not changing them in each stanza. This is possible and not extremely difficult in English, as I know from my many translations of chant royal. I am glad, Brian, that you found my innovation both perfect and versatile!

      Reply
  6. Shamik Banerjee

    Dear Margaret,

    Although my knowledge of Roman mythology is weak, I was taken by the attraction of this poem written on an appealing work of art, which I discovered just today. I toggled back and forth between the illustration and your piece to absorb the lines, though I’m sure I couldn’t grasp the deeper meaning hidden in your intricate craft. The poem opens with an engaging conversation between Venus and Mars. Are you alluding to something mysterious through the sleeping action of the lady (Venus)? I absolutely love the third stanza—its first line—especially after learning the meaning of “putto.” Her being referred to as the Queen fanned by Zephyrs is a wonderfully venerated expression. The great ending echoes the grandeur of the entire piece. Thank you, Margaret. I learned a lot.

    Also, many congratulations on receiving second prize in the Classical Association Poetry Competition. Keep shining. God bless you.

    Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      Thank you, Shamik, for your close attention to the poem and to the surroundings that inspired it. In the decor of this bedroom, the owner and builder of Houghton Hall went well beyond Roman mythology, to create his own. Venus is the goddess of love and beauty to the Romans, and it’s understood that she is much attracted by the strength and hardiness of Mars, who is god of war. My first stanza shows that although they are fascinated by one another, they maintain separate attitudes. It’s a love scene, but Mars looks at it as a battle where he will conquer Venus, and she is willing to lose the battle because that’s the way to win his love. A commonplace idea in male/female relationships generally!

      The second stanza shows Venus also as the goddess of sleep and dreams, which is NOT standard Roman myth, but a concept favored at the grand country house of Houghton Hall. Therefore her associate in this stanza is Morpheus, the real Roman god of sleep and dreaming. The nymphs and shepherds of the country are always available to make happy dreams for Houghton Hall guests, under the direction of Morpheus and with the example of Venus at sleepy leisure.

      The last full stanza happens outdoors, where putti (plural of putto) drape green velvet in the trees for a backdrop to Venus as their queen. Here she is awake to all the pleasures of the country, and her companion is Silvanus, the Roman god of forest and field who is classically in charge of such things. The Roman countryside has many mythic inhabitants, and I chose Silvanus as the most benign and welcoming to Venus, whose dwelling is usually with the other major deities on Mount Olympus. As Silvanus is a lesser being, he takes the place of her steward who is always there in the country, and can make her comfortable as Queen of Country Life when she decides to visit.

      The three ending lines are an envoi to the ballade form of this lyric. They sum up its three parts. I say more about the ballade (probably more than you want to know!) in my second reply to Brian Yapko above. I’m glad you saw it as an echo of the poem’s grandeur. Many thanks once more!

      Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      Forgot to say thank you for congratulations on the Classical Association prize. That was a very special surprise to me because so many professional classicists were my competitors.

      Reply
  7. Daniel Kemper

    “Amor vincit omnia,” indeed!!

    The implicit role reversal with which the poem opened was tactically brilliant for composing this poem. Lush and thoroughly enjoyable. As to love and war, the example of the Trojan War demonstrates, one can wage a war for love, but one cannot make love for the chance to war. Thus, love is supreme.

    This is one of those poems that I think is so tactile and accessible without being facile, it would charm any one in any venue.

    Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      Daniel, I’m glad to have your favorable judgment about this little presentation’s accessibility. You have become our expert on the inner workings of public readings. This opening dialogue, as a playful agreement to fight, has (I hope) enough piquant humor to make the female/male stereotypes utterly amusing. And in short order, love’s empire naturally takes over whatever else feels worthwhile. Appreciate your viewpoint!

      Reply
  8. Michael Vanyukov

    The goddess is made a truly good use of here, in all this divine frolicking. Superb and splendid! It also makes me sad by showing how limited my own English is.

    Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      Thanks very much, Michael! I’m glad to know that you could enjoy the frolic by looking up some words, and I’m sure you have a specialized vocabulary of your own. I was lucky enough to be a native speaker in a family that encouraged reading and poetry. We each bring our own gifts to poetry, whether as writers or appreciative readers.

      Reply
  9. Adam Sedia

    Allow me to echo earlier comments about how finely crafted this poem is. I am impressed how deftly you fit your narrative to the strict rhyme scheme, keeping the rhyme across stanzas as well – no small feat. Nowhere does the language sound stilted or forced into the rhyme.

    As for content, you present a vision of wall art literally coming alive, offering the mind’s glimpse of an imagined world animated from a single “still shot.” And your language is incredibly lush. Reading it was sheer delight.

    Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      “Animated narrative” is high praise for a poem that has “lush language,” too, within a strict rhyme scheme. Thanks very much for your appreciative notice of these qualities, Adam!

      Reply

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