Philomel

Philomel

A
tribute to John Keats

Philomela, daughter of the King of Athens, after being raped

 and mutilated by her sister's
husband, Tereus,

obtains her revenge and is transformed into a nightingale.

The birds song is thought to be melancholic because of her
ordeal

Life’s
dreary course my fate from dusk to dawn

The
hours pass by their seconds slowly wane

Oh’
what is life if there is nought but mourn

Lost
virtue that may never come again

Oh’
how I wish that I could only find

Something
to turn my wretched heart to bliss

Some
way to raise my damaged soul from strife

To
lead me out of this deep, dark abyss

A
path to ease my sorely troubled life

As
strolling through the countryside, I find

Sights
and sounds so tuneful all may hear

Far
in the distance. Carried on the wind

A
tranquil song, So wistful and so clear

High
in the sky the little nightingale

Chirrups
its serenade so pensively

Throughout
the starry moonlit night

With
sweetest tones it does the ear regail

With
poignant tones of clear lucidity

And
all our grief is swiftly put to flight.

J.E.Giffard

.