Eclogues of the Dearne

By Christopher M. Marlowe

Pagan Poetry.

A new work based on Virgil's Eclogues by Christopher M. Marlowe. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christopher M. Marlowe
• Release date: Apr 9, 2019
• ISBN: 9781386079200

Book preview

ECLOGUES OF THE DEARNE

VIRGIL'S ECLOGUES IN REPRESENTATION.

BY CHRISTOPHER M MARLOWE

I have seen visions of Eros & the Dark Lady

ECLOGUE I

MELIBO'EUS

Tityres -

You lie

In the open 

& beneath

Beechen covers

In th'

Forests wild:

Where

The insignificant

Muse

Reflects on

The shepherds pipe;

The Summit

Of our

Native purpose,

Yes,

Is rather

Sweet.

Give up

Your ploughing,

We

Are fugitives;

Avoided

In our homeland;

Whilst you,

Tityres,

Indifferent toward

The shadows...

Heed!

The accuser

Of our knowledge

And beautiful fashion,

Resounds (at times)

Amidst

Amaryllis' woods.

TITYRES

Lofty is the flame of my separate god!

O Melibo'eus,

Shall

A high born god

Linger

At a loss?

Making,

For example:

The leisure

Of this world

Always

Disposed to evil?

(To the satisfaction of a mighty God)

Illiterati smear gruel over his stones

& quite mad in movement, how discerning

to stray in the temperance of vagabonds

to traverse tense oxen.-

His erotic

Altar

Is often ours,

Ever since

the goat-folds

First explored

The lambs lineage.

From his

Bedroom,

He considers

The portrait

Of an ancestor;

Soaring in earlier,

But rare,

Pressure

From the master

Himself.

Let's imitate

The antic hay

To investigate

Behind the veil!

MELIBO'EUS

Indeed,

Not to cast

An evil eye

On his

Magic mirror,

as it is multiple:

placed in many ways,

facing all sides.

Indeed,

I fear perpetual

Turmoil.

See our host,

Capella!

Persecuted

By persistent sorrow;

Laden with difficulty,

Tityres,

consider

Her hazel-eyed twin;

In spite

Of a moments

Concise example

Hopes to be

One of the flock?

Ah! abandoned...

She labours

At a discussion

At the

Market place -

As hard as flint.

'Fruit of magnificent birth are often abused.'

To see that

The courageous plan

Is not ill-omened,

Ulwok;

Scalp the engraving

On oak -

Remember the warning!

Also that god,

Where does he sit,

Noted Tit?

TITYRES

The city of Rome,

Melibo'eus;

Lonely

And in a ditch.

My word

I was silly,

Similar to our natives,

The likes of which

Are frequently solemn.

The pastors seed maintains a steady course to dislodge the pregnancy

Mortified by hemp bread he is similarly clever

What follows is the kids funeral composition:

Any rupture of this short composition becomes a great one

Actually this is consistent, so much so,

At one time I was transported between the chapters.

I spread myself abroad, like perfume, over the city

Lingering as calm as ever: at ease to form conditions

'Among the wayfaring trees lies the guelda rose.'

MELIBO'EUS

Why the great search

Through Rome?

You caused

That place to...

AMARYLLIS

That's only because

I was not,

At any time,

Influential

In judgement!

All the same

Liberal!

What bars

The way

But your respect for

laziness?

respect nevertheless,

also,

after temporary

indulgence.

yet still

while I, Amaryllis,

was dressed

in this

condition,

Galate'a left.

I felt clear radiance

after my beard

was cropped.

for, indeed

(yes, conduced to fate)

while

I was a man,

Galate'a would cause

Inescapable vexation.

But not to

speak of

The era

of independence;

Nor of

peculiar

Pains bestowed.

I met the penalty -

As a victim

Summoned

to the stake.

And thankless

for comfort -

I compressed

the cities cheese;

Strong and dexterous

In ready

forgiveness. 

MELIBO'EUS

I wondered

why

sorrowful gods,

Amaryllis,

were summoned;

whose forefathers

urged value

into the fruit of trees.

Tityrus,

from here

your

relief is in

the personification

of La'e's Scotch fir.

You,

the fountainhead,

forecalled to her

underwater

orchard of

your own accord.

TITYRUS 

Why retire?

Isn't slavery

To me

A licence to freedom?

Slavery

To me is

Not foreboding:

Otherwise how

Will I

Learn to recognise

The divine?

The latter

From there observe

The youth, Melibo'eus;

Whose

artless altar

Top

Fumes twice

Six days every year.

For his prime

Response

Was a mighty

Devotion to

petition.

TITYRES

'Whence grazing near the slaves front bedroom;

the summit of Taurus.

Fortunate old men continue work in rural areas'

- as is your fashion!

yes, you

great

intoleration!

blockhead!

ever so

entirely

unembellished!

carefully

investigate the marsh,

then draw

cover

in rushy pasture.

your not

unaccustomed

to offensive smells,

having made

repeated

attempts foraging

for a foetus!

Don't strike your neighbours cheek.

that's setting a bad example for the fee.

yes: resolute

in buggering the sacred

putrefecation til inactivity - in the dark.

Is this the

reason for

the lifelong spying

on your

neighbours;

Peeping through

the fence

along

the path

between fields?

'Whilst cutting short willow plantations,

around his sickle waft bees from Hybaeus'

'The Pastor, in the wane of his prime;

often lures to sleep with murmurs - the persuasion to injustice.

throughout the speaking, morose in your usual sorrow -

you observe the wood pidgeons remain serene.

meanwhile, at the foot of the cliff; the Wise-one

chants until winds resume.

but not to bewail, the cherishing mist delays it's departure,

tortured near the elms.'

AMARYLLIS

Well then!

Rather

Than waiting

To get permission

To forsake

My cherished faith;

I shall

Browse throughout

Your heavenly

palisade.

Destitute & naked on the shore against violent ocean tides

Creeps Pisces; leading the way as she wanders

Under the compromise of north winds ~ In exile

for the principle sake of happiness

In the contrary case the Parthians will come

to Germany's Tigris

to see in what manner native features therein

yield to the comb.

MELIBO'EUS

this is

ungodly,

to spend

so long in

the plantations.

have power to discern a marvellous beard of corn

lo! our native

boundary

is long behind,

to this

place in

the very spot

of Africa;

with it's Scythian

streaker

that bears away

the baskets of chalk -

poor, also

in a

thrown together

cot -

indulgence

for oxen? when

there was no grass

for them,

Capella;

at once

a time a stud

was a good omen,

likewise

a goat;

but recently

they

ate their own

tail, all in

one gulp!

AMARYILLIS

but soon

to implant,

Melibo'eus,

a pear

after we arrange

the vine.

what's this?

an unintelligible pole in standing corn!

lo!

what disunion

is made of a citizen!

laments

lead us forward:

we stutter

in the wild assembly;

like cut

sods to the

summit.

let's suspend

a governor

above it's

thorn bushes;

sour in art

& behind

in a royal

motion;

from a cliff edge

he will

discern

our incantation

is not fit

for any groove.

MELIBO'EUS

by no means

you or I

hereafter

to throw herbage

into the fire-place

of a cave;

where my

chessmen

have to

be carved anew.

as a distributor

of bribes,

I'm on track

for Britain,

where clover

in bloom

carpets the willow

estate.

TITYRES

All the same

at least

remaining are th' sacks

of pickings

from th' plants

I once had...

stay this night

by me;

I know

a sleep-inviting

bed of

four-leaf clovers:

I can offer

excellence

in squidgy fruit,

soft roasted chestnuts;

press together

an abundance

of milk-cheese.

In summary:

very soon now,

at some

distance:

The rooftops

of our little

villa

shall fume

again.

And out

from the chimneys -

our ancestors

herald

their merry-men. 

END

ECLOGUE II

PASTOR

Corydon became

Inflamed

For beautiful

Alexis.

But

Absolute ownership

Of his favourite eleve

Would

Never arrive.

Why was

His hope

Removed,

In his

Obligation

To believe & to feel?

In spite of this,

He frequently

Mashed

His thick point

In the

Rear

Of shady beeches;

Into

A tree-log

Goes

His residue!

'The discharge of the sole heir lurks in secrecy?'

You'll

Have to

Beg

His pardon.

Alone he is

So

Undisciplined.

In fact,

As insolent as

The highlander is,

He is keen

To rove

In disquiet

& study whilst poor.

Both hills

& woods

Are quite fond

Of his inanimate

Bravado:

O cruel Alexis,

Have you nothing

To do

With the

Pains

Revered

In my gle?

Is there

Not any

Conduit

Of pity

For this non-landed

Prechar?

'Shall the master of rhetoric lose some blood?'

Really!

In the presence

Of 'cow breeders'

You lounge

Captive

As the guest

Of the 'legacy hunter'

Now,

Whilst in bloom,

Do

Be careful

Of th' Occult & it’s lacerating

thorns.

Thestylis,

Devoured

By

Fatige

And the

Surge

Of the sea -

Non-conformity

As

Wild-thyme &

Herbs

Pounded

Into fragrance.

The same may

Be

Said

Of me,

Provided

We retrace

Our steps:

In fiery

Sandals,

To tread underfoot

The wooded cicadas;

A graveyard

Shall

Echo their screams;

And there

With

Me make

Raucus!

Through

the arbuscle &

Th’ phyllome

Of th'

Weeping Willow

(yet not the Ghost-gums)

The winds

Howl

'very soon the vestige shall be illumin'd.'

Distinct in it's features ~ considering the signs.

Is not life

Satisfied

In sad

And irate

Amaryllis?

Whether not

To suffer

The tyranny

In pride,

As Menalcas;

That dismal negro...

How is it

You give

Birth to whites?

O child

of beauty-too-great

to ignore;

entrusted with colour:

Remain black

Until

Privet flowers

Are picked;

When negroes

Begin collecting hyacinth.

THE MOPOKE DWELLS IN my summer dreams.

It was of tree sense that it spoke.

Insane shrieks, eye to eye;

aware of harpy and night;

shadows cast me a sweet unusual scent

& a coin

‘...Of th' end of charry night'...

This vision is all I have.

In this

View,

You exist

Not

Among those

That

Motley a

Superior manner;

Or

Survive

By stealing

Apple & pear.

You must

Find

A pursuit,

Alexis.

Become

As divine as

Possible;

Rich in cattle ~

sheltered from snow ~

frothy white-milk to overflowing.

Wandering in his own course, of a thousand ~ to Sicily;

Among ewe-lambs in highlands,

Through a maze of errant delusion;

The eccentric famulus exhausts himself; sounding

about & hugging himself into frost

Ask him a question ~ since it's customary,

To see if he's destined to become part of 'the herd'

Look at th'

Graffiti

On this

Boulder!

''Right here on this spot, I saw

Amphion of Dircea climb all over Actean Aracynthus!!''

Why them?

I'm not that ugly,

In fact,

I've examined

Myself

On the

Shore;

When the dissuading

Sea

Stood wind-becalmed. 

No

I'll not

Condemn

You,

Daphnis.

You seem

Apprehensive

To be

Seen

With me;

so that your

Image

is never falsified.

What if

That

Attitude could

Be said

Of me,

You sordid ruralite!

You always

Seem

Pierced to common

Places

In cottages

as though fixed.

Also fastened

To Stags

And kid's,

That are

Descendants

of 'the common herd.'

bring together

from the garden,

a remedy

of

marsh mallow.

together

with me, we'll

sleek across

the plantations

flowery stems,

making

repetitions

of Pan's incantation.

(Pan first joined stalks together with wax as an undertaking

Pan pays attention to sheep over his mistress anytime!)

The Piper

shan't be sorry;

though now

grinding

his teeth

at the crossroads;

& using

wasted

words in public streets:

synchronous

in foreordaining

what is known.

why not offer in sacrifice -

to a composers image

Amyntas?

then promulge in rival magic

with compressed

pipes of hemlock seven.

Damoetas surrendered to sacrifice, as devoted as possible:

as once upon a time.

but even as my escort oration grows stale:

'you now consider your clients behind'

fancy

an orator

like Damoetas,

begrudging Amyntas.

the two

of them

trecking their

Hock-cart

past,

as to escape

my notice;

so I'll rudely

ask them

to help

defend my

valley of inventions.

Crossbeams littered

abroad,

scattered besides

another

of my bright

enticements.

So the pair

of them

on a

synchronized journey:

as exhausted

as fertile sheep.

I have done,

(and do now)

& will

on future dates

amuse myself

with seducing

Thestylis

with prose;

She'll cop

it both ways;

that same

way you

Vulgarians

are so obliging

to the natives.

Here is where

I begin

to wear away,

O beautiful

boy:

these ponds

are where

you, with cruel

Nymphs of the wilds,

for bowls

using

copious

flower petal balloons;

relishing