Calliope, the Muse in Greek mythology who presides over eloquence and epic poetry. The eldest of the Nine Muses, her name literally means "beautiful-voiced." Hesiod and Ovid called her the "Chief of all Muses."


To Calliope, Chief of the Nine Muses

My muse sighs and leaves me unwell
and cuckolds me like faithless love
as if she's ne'er my god or belle,
afflatus or creative breath
who comes from the summits above
and saves me from poetic death!
"Why go, O Calliope!?" I yell;

her leaving brings about such woe
and inexpressible sorrow
that's too profound, too deep to tell:
I pray to Zeus I'll never know
this Melancholia of hell!
My muse sighs and takes leave of me,—
I yell, "Why go, O Calliope!?



Sonnet by Ngoc Nguyen The PoetBay support member heart!
Read 907 times
Written on 2019-01-20 at 17:19

Tags Calliope  Muse  Mythology 

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Oh such sweet angst, to suffer is to mourn, and bleak enjoyment within for the poet bereft.

In other words, I loved this. How softly she left you, how harsh the Winter of loss.
2019-01-20