The Journal Wk. 43
The Oresteia: Agamemnon
Agamemnon, 402-419
Curses
No stone is like to her,
The woman
No voice is like to hers
That stirs
The silence of his empty hall
Her bridal gift was ruin
And those who looked upon her face
Cursed the place
She lay
Half-wished
She lay alone
Agamemnon, 438-474
They cried out to the god of war
And he gave to them their blood
Watched their shadows devour them
Till they belonged to death alone,
Their names all unremembered –
The land was cruel, it was not home;
Bones and all it swallowed them.
The Journal is a section where I post weekly poems responding to something I’m reading. The current subject is Aeschylus’ Agamemnon, and you can find last week’s edition here:
