BELTANE

'Pon the day of fire, Summer begins,

hedges glisten, the hawthorn flow'rs; 

the Pleiades 'pon dawn's shoulders glister,

ere Beltane's Sun his first gold show'rs.

From Winter's rest into fervour released,

o'er growth and greening he presides;

primrose, marigolds, his radiance evoke,

tend'rest shoots to leafing he guides.

Earth rejoices, as the days longer grow,

Nature his rousing call must heed,

the arduous path to fruition tread,

breath enkindle in ev'ry seed.

Cattle and pastures the Great Fire shall bless,

young crops from frost and blight preserve;

form and spirit shall his warmth pure render,

triumph of Light shall we observe.

'Round bonfires we dance, in song revel,

our cattle betwixt flames we drive;

blazing brands to kitchens and hearths we tote,

for Springtide's blazes to revive.

This eve, the Maiden the Horned God shall wed,

'pon forest verdure shall they pair;

in their sacred union shall all rejoice,

Samhain's bounty her womb shall bear.

© 2015 Lily's Verse

Lilium Candidum

Image: QUEEN GUINEVERE'S MAYING

Artist: John Collier

Source: commons.wikimedia.org

WINGS II

Wonders of air and matter,

plumes and vans of  

Light and lightness made
ephemeral, for to bind 

the earthly and the celestial -

each of the other bereft, would
they inutile lie; in unison
alone, they invoke swiftness
and graceful motion.

'Pon their moment, birds ascend
and soar, hover, weave
and twirl thro' waves unseen,
these sails and anchors
alike to Nature's choristers.
Their hollow bones
they guard, as feathered
sentinels their fragileness flank.

Butterflies their twain join at
rest, as praying hands
in gratitude for Earth's bounty.
Moths' slumbers they blanket,
to seeds spell hope,
promise of journeys to fertile
spreads, of fruition,
of perpetual blooming.

Alas, to earthly realms bound,
the soul knows not its
bygone flight. Winged words
and metaphors lofty
man's ineffable yearning limn,
tho' to him it be a mystery.

Glorious must the soul's wings
be, these discarnate
pinions mortal eyes ne'er shall
see, for echoes of their
fluttering the seeker to 
transcendence lead. Aye, e'en 
the deeply immured 
must in dreams recall ancient
pilgrimages 'pon
radiant wing thro' the ether.

© 2015 Lily's Verse
Lilium Candidum

Image: THE ABDUCTION OF PSYCHE

Artist: William-Adolphe Bouguereau

Source: commons.wikimedia.org

VISION

Eosphorus I sought that blessed
dawn, for by his glow those
sinless hours to pass, for my own
soul's silence to seek, ere
day's clamour its peace consumed.

His fair mother I invoked,
when sudden the air effloresced!

Out of the deep stillness, nymphly
shapes rose into the pale,
waking light, clad in veils of argent
and gold, with rainbows girded.

As spirits in an enchanted dream
they curled and wound
thro' the growing mist, as
diaphanous violet ribbons 
into their floating forms merged.

Each moment a hallowed harmony
of hues and motion held;
the shallow glimmer of their 
vestments the cool air threaded,
at daybreak to gild and
silver early Winter's song. 

'Twas as though these divine sprites
to the condition of Nature's
music aspired, for this vision, 
this apotheosis of beauty,
my weary soul restored, as though
from Elysium's own chalice
I had imbibed.

© 2015 Lily's Verse

Lilium Candidum

Image: DAUGHTERS OF THE MIST

Source: commons.wikimedia.org

Artist: Evelyn de Morgan

HELIOS

Thy vital Fire an immortal spark kindled, 

thou glorious Day Star, 

guardian of pledges, bestower of sight. 

Awaken, Elysium's mighty

instrument, by its law commissioned to 

rain Gold 'pon gods and mortals alike,

for the Anemoi and the Horae

thy command await.

Thy golden chariot prepare, thy flaming

steeds bridle, for streams

of Life and Hope to shower 'pon squalor

and splendour, 'pon the

virtuous and depraved. By thy renewing

radiance shall they be

purged of their inmost darkness.

Rouse man from his slumber, his body

nourish, his spirit enliven

with the gods' own light. Their

benevolence bespeak in

hearths and hearts, for at thy doors of

mercy shall all receive.

Thine aureole upon fields alights, births

myriad miniature Suns, that

Earth thy hues may wear thro' Night's

reign. In their earth stained

hearts, thou blazing sphere, dost thou

secrete thy shadows, for such are

Earth's domain, thus mortals premise. 

No honour dost thou covet, nor divine

accolade. Godlike art thou,

yet, 'pon earthly realms not deathless. 

Thy splendour shall dim,

thy children perish; thy guttering flame

shall new worlds thro' stellar mists espy.

© 2015 Lily's Verse

Lilium Candidum

Image: HELIOS AS THE PERSONIFICATION OF DAY (edited)

Artist: Anton Raphael Mengs

Source: commons.wikimedia.org

SHADOW

Her deepest self the dance of

Sunlight renders 'pon 

Spring's canvas. Of darkness 

wrought, this shrouded

vessel her brightest blessings 

embosoms, by night and 

by day, a haven for memories 

of beatitude and torment.

Rubies of felicity, onyxes of

deepest dolour,

emeralds of hope, amethyst

stars of transcendence, 

she layers between misty veils.

This trove's golden key to Dawn

she entrusts; 

to the goddess alone she grants

custodianship of

her treasures. With tears of joy

and woe she anoints

them at daybreak, counts each

gem, as the Queen of Sheba 

her jewels, bathes in

their liquescent iridescence.

Alas, Eos bides but fleetingly

'pon earthly realms.

Still, ev'ry first light her shadow

shimmers, its vaults

awash in coral rays, studded with

incandescent moments,

their sparkle renewed by penance

and prayer,

by gratitude and insight.

© 2015 Lily's Verse

Lilium Candidum

Image: GATES OF DAWN (edited)

Source: www.liveinternet.ru

Artist: Herbert James Draper

THE EYE AND THE SOUL

Lead me, Sleep, child of night 

and darkness, into your sunless

cave! Bid your sons, my tethers

to life's rhythm, attend me

thro' this somnolent journey!

Bright visions shall flow into

grey phantasms, many to perish

in the river of forgetfulness,

others to float upon its waves,

these playthings of tempests

and currents.

Their brethren shall haunt my

waking hours, for the eye dreams

by night and by day, reminisces

thro' every breath, each moment 

a kaleidoscopic rendering of

the selfsame fragments, 

of yesterdays and tomorrows.

Memory is its palette, imagination,

its wellspring, oft melding into

consciousness, plotting day's

images with its stylus, colouring

its spaces with illusions.

Impasto of perception and verity,

of deception and clarity, it renders

upon the mind's canvas, images

contrived to please the ego.

Truth eludes the eye, the ego, for it

is the province of the Soul.

This Beauty, more resplendent than

all Earth shall ever see, soars

thro' realms of the Infinite Eye 

behind watercolour skies.

The eye and the Soul; their fates the

Universe intertwined, this mystical

marriage ordained, for, as one

traverses earthly paths, the other

charts its triumphal progression

beyond the Golden Gates.

© 2015 Lily's Verse
Lilium Candidum

Image source: commons.wikimedia.org

NIGHT WITH HER TRAIN OF STARS

Artist: Edward Robert Hughes

SPIRE

Atop a blooming spire I reigned,

Spring's verdant spreads surveyed;

'neath faerie skies with sisters fair

to vernal music swayed.

Alas, dull clouds my course presaged,

'pon dark earth now I lie;

tho’ fruiting's gift I am denied,

I would live, ere I die.

'Neath blossom'd canopy I rest,

my eyes the Sun's arc trace;

erelong shall hallowed gilded rays

my path to Heaven grace.

My gaze 'pon lilys' nimbus falls -

their mists the glade perfuse;

a silver spear of crane flies trails

to sedges’ fir’lit hues.

O'er breezes’ sun-kissed notes he glides

'pon pallid gauzy wings,

oft tarries, sudden darts as tho,

cast forth from faery slings.

As car’vels fey would I a spell

o'er scented flurries sail;

my sparkle wanes as evening falls,

at dawn shall my breath fail.

A starling trills, his joyful song

the violet air pervades;

the gloaming now betimes descends,

my heady fragrance fades.

A breeze my drooping form revives,

restoring vapours show'rs,

the Moon’s soft rills 'pon Earth cascade,

with pearl tint fallen flow'rs.

The woodsman's homeward path we deck

with wimpling streams of light;

our flames, tho’ swift their brightness ebbs,

the swells of darkness smite.

Our kin this earthly service done,

shall life’s sweet tides abate,

my torment cease, my petals droop,

eternal sleep await.

Of white walks thro' the clouds I dream,

of dewy swathes on high,

Anon shall yon azure bells chime,

leagued with dawn's gentle eye.

Thro’ waves celestial I shall drift

o'er morning's crimson beams,

atop a Golden Spire to rest,

if this He fitting deems.

© 2015 Lily's Verse

Lilium Candidum

Image source: kaifineart.com
Artist: John William Godward

SPRING'S WAY

Flowers of her reverie Zephyrus
scatters to the skies, meadows
of leafless alabaster moulds
from brume and dawn;
'mid their airy swells her course
she charts, scented delights of
vernal feasting contrives.

Dreams and waking in her breath
unite, in her golden fingers
poised, for Elysium's will to trace
'pon earthly spreads.
Moments silent tread in deference
to Zeus' emissary, divine agency
of birth and blossoming. 

Nacred green she melds into violet
fringing primrose;
tangled branches, supple, sinuous,
into bowers she braids, for the Sun
to ensnare, for his radiance
to rain into willing hearts, whence  
her victory she proclaims.

Silvered bells her praises ring,
as the myrtle with pearly blooms
she dusts. Gilded goblets gleeful
girth glowing waters,
their nectar with perfumed showers
alloy, her sacred realm pledge,
her restoring reign. 

Thrushes' songs 'pon verduous
waves glide, with her own tune
merge. This varicoloured carillon
into the enchanted air she flings,
for the Horae to honour, for this
ancient sequence to exalt,
for the glory of Time.

© 2015 Lily's Verse

Lilium Candidum

Image source: artchive.ru

THE WOOD NYMPH

My treasured lyr' I joyful string,
sweetest paeans to Spring compose;
with meadow larks my sisters sing,
as 'pon her green robes they repose.

The woods she fills with violet scents,
with purple stars the hedges studs;
o'er barren boughs she loving bends,
into the dawn bids bashful buds.

'Neath her touch, tender petals swell,
jubilant hues the valleys throng;
of such the chirping minstrels tell,
blooms' whispers weave into their song.

Her fragrance mingles with the tides,
as dawn's mist hovers o'er the lake;
'pon gilded wafts she gentle glides,
drifts of bluebells leaves in her wake.

Her pale beams o'er the treetops swirl,
as honey thro' the branches run;
'long tender bark sweet droplets pearl,
as jewels glisten in the sun.

Her blooming would I emulate,
may vernal chimes my refrains trim;
my airs to her realms elevate, 
as earthly souls with her light brim.

© 2015 Lily's Verse

Lilium Candidum

Image: A SEA SPELL

Source: fineartarchives.com

Artist: Dante Gabriel Rossetti