still life by Willem Clasz Heda‘Capacity’ and Other Poetry by Morrison Handley-Schachler The Society February 17, 2025 Beauty, Humor, Poetry 16 Comments . Capacity “This is too big and inexcusably Extravagant, so next time I insist We buy a smaller glass. This one will be Always half-empty,” said the realist. “You say this from experience,” replied The visionary, “But should realize That if our lot improved then you and I’d Be sorry that it was not twice the size.” . . Love’s Banquet Love gave a banquet. Roses white _And blushing pink arrayed The golden floor, while candlelight _In silver mirrors played. Blue cushions trimmed with violet _Softened each cedar chair, Before smooth, creamy linen set _With tasteful tableware. Hares, pheasants, oysters, crabs and quails _Filled trays of grand design, While lobsters cooled their shining tails _In cataracts of wine. Guests were requested to arrive _A little after seven, Though some turned up at six or five _And others at eleven, In silk, embroidered costumes, made _In captivating styles, With curls on collars neatly laid _And brightly painted smiles. From violins and harp strings soft _Flowed gentle harmonies, While cupids from the minstrels’ loft _Sang tender melodies. Then chimed the hour and bugles screamed. _Thorns from the roses sprang. With sulphur fumes the candles gleamed _At midnight’s solemn clang. From violins a baleful bleat _Soared to the gallery, While cupids to a crazy bleat _Sang loudly out of key Of Love frustrated, Love bereaved, _And Love’s inconstancy, Love disappointed, Love deceived _Or met with mockery. While harps deployed as hunting-bows _Let quicklime darts fly free, As scorpions the lobsters rose _Unappetizingly, Their fickle claws of lust to swing, _Over soft scalps to creep And with suspicion’s jealous sting _Eyelids and lips to sweep. Tarantulas their burrows left _Deep in the cushioned chairs And picking loose the silken weft _Began to knit their snares. Roxana seized me as her prize. _Over Love’s thorns we tore And, almost sober, almost wise, _Burst through the fading door. We stumbled to the garden wall _And tumbled through the gate And laughed aloud at leaving all _The others to their fate. . . Morrison Handley-Schachler is a retired Chartered Public Finance Accountant and Lecturer in Accounting. He has a doctorate in Ancient History and has published articles on ancient Persian history, accounting history, financial crime, auditing and financial risk management. He lives in South Queensferry, on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland. NOTE TO READERS: If you enjoyed this poem or other content, please consider making a donation to the Society of Classical Poets. The Society of Classical Poets does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or commentary. 16 Responses Roy Eugene Peterson February 17, 2025 “Capacity” speaks to me of the reluctance to take chances in life with the realist satisfied to live at a lesser level. “Love’s Banquet” is an amazing sensory experience peppering the mind with colorful displays and auditory sensations, The transition from the peaceful love scene to the raucous behavior ending with the mad dash back to a loving environment had my mind reacting to all three stages intensely. Reply Morrison Handley-Schachler February 17, 2025 Thank you, Roy. In “Capacity” I have tried to capture the fact that we cannot always be limited by our reluctance to take some chances, as you say, and that being the realist is not the only way of being sensible. I enjoyed writing all three phases of “Love’s Banquet”, with all the opportunity for extravagant images. Reply Rachel Meyer February 17, 2025 “Love’s Banquet” — what a chilling picture! The sensory imagery is vivid and very acutely conveys the fickleness and precariousness of love. Reply Morrison Handley-Schachler February 17, 2025 Thank you, Rachel. I am happy that you appreciated the imagery and the terrors of the precariousness of Love. It was just what I was aiming for. Reply Joseph S. Salemi February 17, 2025 “Love’s Banquet” is purely figurative and quasi-allegorical, very much like a medieval poem such as the Roman de la Rose, or E.A. Poe’s story of “The Masque of the Read Death.” It creates a detailed scene of idyllic charm in the first six quatrains, and then the last eight quatrains become a metamorphosis into horror. This could be read as a commentary on love’s deceptive beauty, and how it can mask something horrible. The escape of two lovers at the end could be read as a sign of hope for those few persons who are careful,, or a warning to all that love’s immediately visible pleasures can be a trap filled with scorpions and tarantulas. Reply Morrison Handley-Schachler February 17, 2025 Thanks, Joseph. I enjoyed setting up that metamorphosis – but couldn’t resist putting in the fortunate lovers’ escape at the end. Poe’s “Masque of the Red Death” wasn’t consciously in my mind but it’s a masterpiece and one of my favourite short stories. Reply Paul A. Freeman February 17, 2025 I loved the philosophical turn to ‘Capacity’, where the truth could be in either stanza, or somewhere in between? This poem is especially poignant, today. As for ‘Love’s Feast’, there are some great lines in there. I especially liked the ‘cupid’ minstrels, and the lines ‘As scorpions the lobsters rose / Unappetizingly’, which could so easily have sounded merely ridiculous, yet conveyed the horror of a transformed reality. I’ve written a few medieval feast scenes in my time, but this one really goes the whole hog, so to speak. Thanks for the mouth-wateringly horrifying piece, Morrison. Reply Morrison Handley-Schachler February 17, 2025 Thanks for reading and commenting, Paul. Yes, the truth might lie somewhere between the realist and the visionary. Sometimes we can suffer from disregarding experience but sometimes we suffer from not seeing past it. I’m also glad you enjoyed Love’s Banquet – I was definitely looking for some comedic horror here. Scorpions struck me as being the perfect vehicles for jealousy and suspicion. It was a lot of fun to write. Reply Rohini February 17, 2025 Both brilliant poems. I especially liked Love’s Banquet and the midnight transformation. Chills! Yes and very like Poe Reply Morrison Handley-Schachler February 17, 2025 Thanks for your appreciative comments, Rohini. I’m glad that you enjoyed both poems. And yes, I love Poe’s stories. Reply Shamik Banerjee February 18, 2025 “Love’s Banquet” is a well sculpted piece. The enjambments are nicely filleted and it appears that the rhymes came naturally to the poet. Thanks for the read, Morrison. Reply Morrison Handley-Schachler February 18, 2025 Thanks, Shamik. I’m glad that you enjoyed the read. I find that rhyming always helps to provide emphasis and to pull the meaning of a stanza or of a poem as a whole together. Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant February 18, 2025 Morrison, both poems are thoroughly entertaining although “Love’s Banquet” is a firm favorite. What a delicious cornucopia of sumptuous and vivid imagery and a zesty serving emotion you offer – from tantalizing to torment, from exquisite to grotesque. I particularly like “almost sober, almost wise” – perhaps a little understanding about love is knowing when to stay and when to leave. I’m intrigued by the name choice – is it based on Daniel Defoe’s Roxana? I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this – thank you! Reply Morrison Handley-Schachler February 19, 2025 Thank you very much for your appreciation and comments, Susan. I am glad that you enjoyed both poems. I enjoyed creating the exquisite and the grotesque phases. Defoe’s Roxana is a great novel, but I was actually thinking (as no doubt Defoe was) of Alexander the Great’s consort. Alexander himself was renowned for his wisdom but there are conflicting accounts of his sobriety. Reply Margaret Coats February 18, 2025 “Love’s Banquet” is a delicious fantasy of fun–from my point of view. Once we arrive at the third stanza where “lobsters cooled their shining tails/In cataracts of wine,” the scene is a realm of humorous excess, with an echo of Lewis Carroll: How doth the little crocodile Improve his shining tail, And pour the waters of the Nile On every golden scale! How cheerfully he seems to grin, How neatly spreads his claws, And welcomes little fishes in With gently smiling jaws! It’s not at all surprising that lovers fall into Alice’s Wonderland where you, Morrison, go “whole hog” on the horror, as you did so extravagantly with the pleasures. This is a delightfully composed vision in three parts. It does bear the many meanings about love that others have expressed, but in a light-hearted manner. “Burst through the fading door” is an exit for practical persons who will not be confined long to the illusions of their laughingly happy state. Really wonderful frolic in verse! Reply Morrison Handley-Schachler February 19, 2025 Thank you very much for your comments, Margaret. They are much appreciated. I had actually not noticed the echo of “improve his shining tail,” although the phrase must have been stuck in mind somewhere. Now that you mention this, Lewis Carroll also gives us the “Voice of the Lobster” and, of course, the ultimate banquet gone bad in “The Walrus and the Carpenter.” Reply Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Δ This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Roy Eugene Peterson February 17, 2025 “Capacity” speaks to me of the reluctance to take chances in life with the realist satisfied to live at a lesser level. “Love’s Banquet” is an amazing sensory experience peppering the mind with colorful displays and auditory sensations, The transition from the peaceful love scene to the raucous behavior ending with the mad dash back to a loving environment had my mind reacting to all three stages intensely. Reply
Morrison Handley-Schachler February 17, 2025 Thank you, Roy. In “Capacity” I have tried to capture the fact that we cannot always be limited by our reluctance to take some chances, as you say, and that being the realist is not the only way of being sensible. I enjoyed writing all three phases of “Love’s Banquet”, with all the opportunity for extravagant images. Reply
Rachel Meyer February 17, 2025 “Love’s Banquet” — what a chilling picture! The sensory imagery is vivid and very acutely conveys the fickleness and precariousness of love. Reply
Morrison Handley-Schachler February 17, 2025 Thank you, Rachel. I am happy that you appreciated the imagery and the terrors of the precariousness of Love. It was just what I was aiming for. Reply
Joseph S. Salemi February 17, 2025 “Love’s Banquet” is purely figurative and quasi-allegorical, very much like a medieval poem such as the Roman de la Rose, or E.A. Poe’s story of “The Masque of the Read Death.” It creates a detailed scene of idyllic charm in the first six quatrains, and then the last eight quatrains become a metamorphosis into horror. This could be read as a commentary on love’s deceptive beauty, and how it can mask something horrible. The escape of two lovers at the end could be read as a sign of hope for those few persons who are careful,, or a warning to all that love’s immediately visible pleasures can be a trap filled with scorpions and tarantulas. Reply
Morrison Handley-Schachler February 17, 2025 Thanks, Joseph. I enjoyed setting up that metamorphosis – but couldn’t resist putting in the fortunate lovers’ escape at the end. Poe’s “Masque of the Red Death” wasn’t consciously in my mind but it’s a masterpiece and one of my favourite short stories. Reply
Paul A. Freeman February 17, 2025 I loved the philosophical turn to ‘Capacity’, where the truth could be in either stanza, or somewhere in between? This poem is especially poignant, today. As for ‘Love’s Feast’, there are some great lines in there. I especially liked the ‘cupid’ minstrels, and the lines ‘As scorpions the lobsters rose / Unappetizingly’, which could so easily have sounded merely ridiculous, yet conveyed the horror of a transformed reality. I’ve written a few medieval feast scenes in my time, but this one really goes the whole hog, so to speak. Thanks for the mouth-wateringly horrifying piece, Morrison. Reply
Morrison Handley-Schachler February 17, 2025 Thanks for reading and commenting, Paul. Yes, the truth might lie somewhere between the realist and the visionary. Sometimes we can suffer from disregarding experience but sometimes we suffer from not seeing past it. I’m also glad you enjoyed Love’s Banquet – I was definitely looking for some comedic horror here. Scorpions struck me as being the perfect vehicles for jealousy and suspicion. It was a lot of fun to write. Reply
Rohini February 17, 2025 Both brilliant poems. I especially liked Love’s Banquet and the midnight transformation. Chills! Yes and very like Poe Reply
Morrison Handley-Schachler February 17, 2025 Thanks for your appreciative comments, Rohini. I’m glad that you enjoyed both poems. And yes, I love Poe’s stories. Reply
Shamik Banerjee February 18, 2025 “Love’s Banquet” is a well sculpted piece. The enjambments are nicely filleted and it appears that the rhymes came naturally to the poet. Thanks for the read, Morrison. Reply
Morrison Handley-Schachler February 18, 2025 Thanks, Shamik. I’m glad that you enjoyed the read. I find that rhyming always helps to provide emphasis and to pull the meaning of a stanza or of a poem as a whole together. Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant February 18, 2025 Morrison, both poems are thoroughly entertaining although “Love’s Banquet” is a firm favorite. What a delicious cornucopia of sumptuous and vivid imagery and a zesty serving emotion you offer – from tantalizing to torment, from exquisite to grotesque. I particularly like “almost sober, almost wise” – perhaps a little understanding about love is knowing when to stay and when to leave. I’m intrigued by the name choice – is it based on Daniel Defoe’s Roxana? I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this – thank you! Reply
Morrison Handley-Schachler February 19, 2025 Thank you very much for your appreciation and comments, Susan. I am glad that you enjoyed both poems. I enjoyed creating the exquisite and the grotesque phases. Defoe’s Roxana is a great novel, but I was actually thinking (as no doubt Defoe was) of Alexander the Great’s consort. Alexander himself was renowned for his wisdom but there are conflicting accounts of his sobriety. Reply
Margaret Coats February 18, 2025 “Love’s Banquet” is a delicious fantasy of fun–from my point of view. Once we arrive at the third stanza where “lobsters cooled their shining tails/In cataracts of wine,” the scene is a realm of humorous excess, with an echo of Lewis Carroll: How doth the little crocodile Improve his shining tail, And pour the waters of the Nile On every golden scale! How cheerfully he seems to grin, How neatly spreads his claws, And welcomes little fishes in With gently smiling jaws! It’s not at all surprising that lovers fall into Alice’s Wonderland where you, Morrison, go “whole hog” on the horror, as you did so extravagantly with the pleasures. This is a delightfully composed vision in three parts. It does bear the many meanings about love that others have expressed, but in a light-hearted manner. “Burst through the fading door” is an exit for practical persons who will not be confined long to the illusions of their laughingly happy state. Really wonderful frolic in verse! Reply
Morrison Handley-Schachler February 19, 2025 Thank you very much for your comments, Margaret. They are much appreciated. I had actually not noticed the echo of “improve his shining tail,” although the phrase must have been stuck in mind somewhere. Now that you mention this, Lewis Carroll also gives us the “Voice of the Lobster” and, of course, the ultimate banquet gone bad in “The Walrus and the Carpenter.” Reply
