The Rapture of Persephone

Persephone on the line between death and life —

Half a year in the shadows of night,

The other half pale but happy in the sun;

Mediating in the tide of growth and decay.

 

"I didn’t want to come here, but now

I revel in the dark embrace of my mate,

Bringing spiritual sunlight into these gloomy halls,

Softening the starkness of his icy grip.

I dance and dance

On the dark current,

In the dark light,

Twirling in shadows:

Casting life on death,

Sowing the seeds of fertility

In the realm of the cold god

Whom I call my own."

 

Hades, ruler of wandering, wailing shadows,

Who took her in the sun, burdened by his task,

And brought her on fiery horses to these caves of woe

To keep him company in his lonely reveries.

 

"I dance and dance

In death’s bitterness,

Take the cold tides

As they come:

Bringing music to the deep,

Enticing the shadows to a smile;

Light the burden of the lover

Whom I call my own.

I have the power of joy,

The force of warmth

In a world of ice;

The light of love

In the grimness of eternity:

I am life in death

And growth in decay,

The spring in wintertime,

Laughter in a tide of tears!"