Nyneve, What but My Soul Suffices?
You, whom they call the Lady of the Lake,
Nyneve, my love, what shall I offer you
to appease your anger? Can it be true
you knew the Incubus, my father? Take
from me all I have, as though life did not rake
me over hellish coals . . . take then these blue
eyes, take this red heart! Take from me what few
days I boast as mine! But for Pity’s sake—
my soul, oh my soul, my soul, take mercy
on me and leave my immortal self, leave
this soul to wander wide post mortum. See!
Even Dagda grants surcease! Would you grieve
my kin? I forfeit my life’s legacy,
make me servant, but my soul give reprieve!
David M Pitchford
9 June 2008Image depicted: “The Beguiling of Merlin” by Edward Burne Jones, 1874
paint it iambic 