Do you give yourself to me utterly,
Body and no-body, flesh and no-flesh
Not as a fugitive, blindly or bitterly,
But as a child might, with no other wish?
Yes, utterly.
Then I shall bear you down my estuary,
Carry you and ferry you to burial mysteriously,
Take you and receive you,
Consume you, engulf you,
In the huge cave, my belly, love you
With huge waves continually.
And you shall cling and clamber there
And slumber there, in that dumb chamber,
Beat with my blood's beat, hear my heart move
Blindly in bones that ride above you,
Delve in my flesh, dissolved and bedded,
Through viewless valves embodied so –
Till daylight, the expulsion and awakening,
The riving and the driving forth,
Life with remorseless forceps beckoning –
Pangs and betrayal of harsh birth.
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From guest golova (contact)
The great mystery of the marriage should not be redused to smelting of flesh. Such attributes of love as "no-body" and "no-flash" one could be included in spheres neither "the unpersonal" nor "the spiritual". Eucharistic consumption is unattainable spiritual heaven for describing kind of love. -
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So, simply....
From guest Oddymcjab (contact)
well...he's imagining himself as a mother and a baby in her whomb, and he's saying that any human is innocent until they are born, "pangs and betrayal of harsh birth"...how meloncholy! clearly he doesn't enjoy life and expresses that through his poetry.. -
soft and sweet
this poem speakes fo divine love ...but consume and putting in the huge cave, the belly..well, its beautiful rhyming -
Craving..
The absolute need for rest of body and mind permeates this write. It becomes all to the poet. Love, life, food, sex, birth, and sweet death; only disturbed/betrayed by the light of day. It seems to me this was written during time of war, where battlefield sleep is a paradise barely tasted, and this poet portrays so well. One sinks throughout the poem into the rest so longed for only to be rudely pulled back with brutal force. That sense of longing remains long after the last line is read. Well done. -
birth, sex, sleep
From guest jude (contact)
Brilliant that a man can so comprehensively understand the intricate evolutation of life and its connectedness to sex and sleep (death). -
deep
This was so very deep,mysterious and spiritual. I love the twists in the poem. It gives the reader shivers at the end.
Thanks for sharing,
Kari -
seems he is written in the context... of venting out frustrations and misery of a unjustified birth... though we dont know the clear details...
the personification of sleep ... as an elegant expression... in seemingly vivid words...
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After my first time reading Slessor, let me try:
It's very spiritual, even mythic, bringing the "I" up to legendary proportions and powers. There's something of the old myths, the cannibalistic, the melding of souls but using old language of the stories of long ago.
Some themes are as ancient as the first art, older than that, really; the dying, the ferrying of the soul, the birthing. -
Hey does anyone know the context of this poem, when written etc?
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A very well written poem by a very talented poet. The use of imagery is very impactful especially on sensuality. Slessor truly is masterful in manipulating the concept of time and romance!
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