The Writer: Morning Revisioning
Day Four
Inspiration
The Vine
BY ROBERT HERRICK
I dreamed this mortal part of mine
Was metamorphosed to a vine,
Which crawling one and every way
Enthralled my dainty Lucia.
Methought her long small legs and thighs
I with my tendrils did surprise;
Her belly, buttocks, and her waist
By my soft nervelets were embraced.
About her head I writhing hung,
And with rich clusters (hid among
The leaves) her temples I behung,
So that my Lucia seemed to me
Young Bacchus ravished by his tree.
My curls about her neck did crawl,
And arms and hands they did enthrall,
So that she could not freely stir
(All parts there made one prisoner).
But when I crept with leaves to hide
Those parts which maids keep unespied,
Such fleeting pleasures there I took
That with the fancy I awoke;
And found (ah me!) this flesh of mine
More like a stock than like a vine.
(read this poem on the Poetry Foundation website)
resource
I loved listening to Rachel Kushner read and talk about Edna O’Brien’s story “Come Into the Drawing Room, Doris.” The New Yorker Fiction Podcast deals in a certain kind of fiction, and some of it is very good. This is an example of a good one.
There’s also this wonderful piece about O’Brien which came out soon after her memoir, Country Girl, a Memoir, came out.
quote
“Darkness is drawn to light, but light does not know it; light must absorb the darkness and therefore meet its own extinguishment.” - Edna O’Brien, from “In the Forest”
question
Today’s question is for you, from me. Leave your answer in the comments and maybe you’ll share something new with someone, and read the comments to learn something. Tomorrow’s Revisioning is going to be focused on routine, so this is the beginning of that dialogue.