Thalassa2 (very very off)
Persephone's Joyous Return
First Crocus
This morning, flowers cracked open
the earth’s brown shell. Spring
leaves spilled everywhere
though winter’s stern hand
could come down again at any moment
to break the delicate yolk
of a new bloom.
The crocus don’t see this as they chatter
beneath a cheerful petal of spring sky.
They ignore the air’s brisk arm
as they peer at their fresh stems, step
on the leftover fragments
of old leaves.
When the night wind twists them to pieces,
they will die like this: laughing,
tossing their brilliant heads
in the bitter air.
© Poem By: Christine Klocek-Lim
___________________________
The Greek Mythology Summary of Persephone
Demeter, goddess of the corn and harvest, has one daughter, Persephone, the maiden of spring. Hades, god of the Underworld, kidnaps Persephone and brings her down to be his wife in the Underworld. Grief-stricken and confused, Demeter withholds her gifts from the world, which becomes “a frozen desert.” She comes down to human beings in the form of an elderly woman and is taken in by a woman named Metaneira. At night, Demeter attempts to grant Metaneira’s son immortal youth by secretly anointing the boy with ambrosia and placing him in a hot fire. When Metaneira discovers Demeter putting her son in the fire, she becomes irate. Demeter then sheds her disguise and demands that the people of the town build her a temple.
In this temple, far removed from the other gods in Olympus, Demeter sits in longing for her daughter. The earth, meanwhile, freezes to a bitter cold that threatens mankind’s extinction. Finally, Zeus intervenes by telling Hermes to go down to the underworld and bring Persephone back. Hades knows he must agree to Zeus’s terms, but he gives Persephone four pomegranate seeds, knowing that if she eats them she will have to return to him. With her daughter back, Demeter leaves her temple and joins the other gods on Mount Olympus. But because Persephone does eat the pomegranate seeds, she must return to the Underworld for four months a year - one month for every seed she ate. In these months, Demeter grieves and the earth goes through winter.
Persephone's Joyous Return
First Crocus
This morning, flowers cracked open
the earth’s brown shell. Spring
leaves spilled everywhere
though winter’s stern hand
could come down again at any moment
to break the delicate yolk
of a new bloom.
The crocus don’t see this as they chatter
beneath a cheerful petal of spring sky.
They ignore the air’s brisk arm
as they peer at their fresh stems, step
on the leftover fragments
of old leaves.
When the night wind twists them to pieces,
they will die like this: laughing,
tossing their brilliant heads
in the bitter air.
© Poem By: Christine Klocek-Lim
___________________________
The Greek Mythology Summary of Persephone
Demeter, goddess of the corn and harvest, has one daughter, Persephone, the maiden of spring. Hades, god of the Underworld, kidnaps Persephone and brings her down to be his wife in the Underworld. Grief-stricken and confused, Demeter withholds her gifts from the world, which becomes “a frozen desert.” She comes down to human beings in the form of an elderly woman and is taken in by a woman named Metaneira. At night, Demeter attempts to grant Metaneira’s son immortal youth by secretly anointing the boy with ambrosia and placing him in a hot fire. When Metaneira discovers Demeter putting her son in the fire, she becomes irate. Demeter then sheds her disguise and demands that the people of the town build her a temple.
In this temple, far removed from the other gods in Olympus, Demeter sits in longing for her daughter. The earth, meanwhile, freezes to a bitter cold that threatens mankind’s extinction. Finally, Zeus intervenes by telling Hermes to go down to the underworld and bring Persephone back. Hades knows he must agree to Zeus’s terms, but he gives Persephone four pomegranate seeds, knowing that if she eats them she will have to return to him. With her daughter back, Demeter leaves her temple and joins the other gods on Mount Olympus. But because Persephone does eat the pomegranate seeds, she must return to the Underworld for four months a year - one month for every seed she ate. In these months, Demeter grieves and the earth goes through winter.