for percy bysshe shelly

for percy bysshe shelly

to the great god pan u gave a sweet oblation;
& like the feral dogs given artemis or apollo’s gift of vision,
he favored u with swollen loins & lusty lines of verse.

& spread u these to eromenoi & maenad alike,
to become the greatest lyric poet of yr time –
be glad that to the great god pan u gave a sweet oblation.

more than mere sweet piping, more compelling than
the wind in reeds & rushes or singing birds on myrtle bushes,
he favored u with swollen loins & lusty lines of verse.

u professed yr love for science; of god u were not so sure
& laudanum resolved yr contradictions. how queer that
to the great god pan u gave a sweet oblation.

was it that child’s virginity, young harriet of london,
a sacrifice so pleasing in pan’s sight? u are blessed that
he favored u with swollen loins & lusty lines of verse.

even more than byron, yr sweet lyrics did impress me.
might even i compose with such elegiac vision? perhaps if
to the great god pan i humbly give a sweet oblation,
he might favor me with swollen loins & lusty lines of verse.


© Joseph McNair; 2009