“Reach me a gentian, give me a torch!
let me guide myself with the blue, forked torch of a flower
down the darker and darker stairs, where blue is darkened on blueness,
even where Persephone goes”
Steep me deep in Plutonium blue
when into Bluebeard’s inky arms I sink
bone dry though – not drowning in Poseidon’s passionate green
the swell of foam-flecked aquamarine
Wrap me round a winding cloth of livid indigo
robed in a cobalt coat and pillowed down
breast of cuddy duck tenderly pressed
with brilliantine sheen of peacock crest
Gift me gentians for the grave at Michaelmas
massed pavonate blooms that dispel Dis and hideous gloom
then blue blue hyacinths for when Persephone lights the stair
and winds of March exhume the sepulchred air
A recent visit to the garden centre and the sight of Gentians invoked D. H. Lawrence’s elegiac poem as inspiration for today’s offering in the Poetry Pantry
Loving the shades of blue…
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so many hues to choose
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‘Wrap me round a winding cloth of livid indigo robed in a cobalt coat and pillowed down breast of cuddy duck tenderly pressed with brilliantine sheen of peacock crest’.. this is soo beautiful!❤️
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struggled with that verse so thank you Sanaa
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Your poems always have beautiful elements. I like this one too. Thanks.
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lovely comment – thank you
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The colours in this poem are breathtaking, and your final line is a perfect closing.
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was an almost accidental rhyme that then determined the others!
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Wonderful description and a delight to read. Thanks for sharing.
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thank you for commenting ❤
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I love the aspects of blue, but hope there are some cerulean skies to lighten up the blues.
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lying in the grave must see all sorts of skies!
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A very blue poem, I hope you find shame brighter shades.
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oh but I love the Gentian blues best
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Beautiful blue!!!
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indeed 🙂
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My Laura what beauty in poetry you create from just seeing gentians….this one had me swooning with all the images and colors reading it over and over again! Superb.
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what a very nice comment Donna – thank you for your appreciation – do you grow Gentians? They are a divine blue for this dying time of year especially and Lawrence’s poem is all the more evocative as he looked at his own imminent death square on
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Such lovely shades of blue. I wonder what blue is termed to be sad when it is such a glorious color of the sky, the ocean, and columbines.
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All relative I guess – it belongs in a cold palette -a few tones up from the black of deep depression in its darkest aspect –
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This surely is a very very blue poem
Happy Sunday Laura
much love…
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And pure in heart!
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Is plutonium blue?
Picasso had a blue period
casting all his subjects in its mood
singers sing the blues
not to wallow in melodrama
but because they want
to tell the truth
I could talk a blue streak.
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Plutonium blue is the myth of Persephone personified in Pre-Raphaelite paint and given a Lawrencian send-off!!
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Lovely writing in what seems to me to be a very classical way!
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yes Mary – following in Lawrence’s footsteps down the Greek mythological route here
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So evocative, as always! I’m imagining the scene, the seasons, the people, and the plants. I can almost “see” this as your “painting” with words is very effective.
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thank you Beth – to paint with words, to plant with ideas is what I strive for since I am no artist and am without a garden of my own 😉
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A captivating write…I have a plant called Persephone she has kept me safe for many a year
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thank you Jae Rose – your plant has a nice name – there is safety in predictability
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Love how your words sing the blues, Laura. Fabulous!
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singing of death with only the blues as accompaniment!
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