The Tale of the Six Swans
By onemorething
- 2967 reads
Based on the Brothers Grimm tale of The Six Swans.
I did not speak or laugh
for six years, each an exchange
of muteness for a swan,
the words stolen from my mouth;
a spell itself, this silence squandered
on men. I learn and learn – you can offer
a man everything and it will still not be enough,
until love is a sentence.
Still, my fingers bleed, needle asters
into new shirts, I eat my children,
I become the source of my own despair,
I become the source of my own salvation,
until there is sunlight and restoration,
but I do not know if I believe in happy endings,
so I sleep, crows beneath my bed to keep the ghosts
at bay, and my body is my kingdom, at last.
Illustration is by Walter Crane for 1914 Brothers Grimm edition.
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Comments
Oh my goodness, this was one
Oh my goodness, this was one of my favourite fairy tales when I was younger, and you don't often hear about it now. As ever, you have crafted it into something totally original, while retaining the feel and mood of the original. And what a beautiful picture. Thanks for posting this.
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Pick of the Day
This beautiful and haunting retelling of one of the strangest of fairytales is our Facebook and Twitter Pick of the Day! Please do share/retweet if you enjoy it too.
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Poem of the Week
This is also our Poem of the Week! Congratulations!
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That always bothered me, too.
That always bothered me, too. Weaving nettles. And for so many shirts. Why is it always females whose way to be brave is to endure while males go off and fight monsters? Instead of monstrous other females?
I like Walter Crane too, but know about him for his stained glass :0)
you can offer
a man everything and it will still not be enough,
until love is a sentence.
and
my body is my kingdom, at last.
I cannot explain how much this poem means to me.
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I think I'm going to have to
I think I'm going to have to find this fairytale and re-read as I don't remember it - but your poem is splendidly dark. I'll come back again tomorrow and re-read. Very big congratulations for all those cherries!
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Do you know, I'm not sure I
Do you know, I'm not sure I ever read that story before? It is very strange isn't it - the happy ending almost tagged on so as not to upset too much. The casual acceptance of woman/female as property, to be passed around. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to say thank goodness that doesn't happen anymore?
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Oh no! Don't change it? I
Oh no! Don't change it? I thought it was a red aster of blood the needle made by pricking ? and the petals seeping into the shirt?
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I don't know about asters,
I don't know about asters, but nettles really were made into cloth. Have a vague memory reading the German army at one time had uniforms made out of them? Maybe asters are used in warmer climates if they have stringy stalks too
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