Robert Graves, 'Escape'

[duathir.livejournal.com]

Cross-post from war_poetry:

Escape

("August 6, 1916. Officer previously reported died of wounds, now reported wounded. Graves, Capt. R, Royal Welsh Fusiliers")

...But I was dead, an hour or more:
I woke when I'd already passed the door
That Cerberus guards and half-way down the road
To Lethe, as an old Greek sign-post showed.
Above me, on my stretcher swinging by,
I saw new stars in the sub-terrene sky,
A Cross, a Rose in Bloom, a Cage with Bars,
And a barbed Arrow feathered with fine stars.
I felt the vapours of forgetfulness
Float in my nostrils: Oh, may Heaven bless
Dear Lady Proserpine, who saw me wake
And, stooping over me, for Henna's sake
Cleared my poor buzzing head and sent me back
Breathless, with leaping heart along the track.
After me roared and clattered angry hosts
Of demons, heroes, and policeman-ghosts.
"Life, life! I can't be dead, I won't be dead:
Damned if I'll die for any one," I said...
Cerberus stands and grins above me now,
Wearing three heads, lion and lynx and sow.
"Quick, a revolver! but my Webley's gone,
Stolen... no bombs... no knife... (the crowd swarms on,
Bellows, hurls stones)... not even a honeyed sop...
Nothing... Good Cerberus... Good dog... but stop!
Stay!... a great luminous thought... I do believe
There's still some morphia that I bought on leave."
Then swiftly Cerberus' wide mouths I cram
With Army biscuit smeared with Tickler's jam;
And Sleep lurks in the luscious plum and apple.
He crunches, swallows, stiffens, seems to grapple
With the all-powerful poppy... then a snore,
A crash; the beast blocks up the corridor
With monstrous hairy carcase, red and dun -
Too late: for I've sped through.

O Life! O Sun!

by Robert Graves

Comments

[med_cat]

Striking imagery...

There was another poet who mentioned seeing not Cerberus, but Charon--you might find this poem of interest, if I'd not shown it to you before:

http://med-cat.livejournal.com/675899.html

[duathir.livejournal.com]

Thank you; I had not seen it before, and like it very much.

[med_cat]

You are most welcome. I have a few of Levitanskiy's poems posted, you might like some of them--under the "levitanskiy" tag.

[duathir.livejournal.com]

They are most excellent; thank you very much. Are the translations all your own?

[med_cat]

My pleasure! He is one of my favorite poets, because his poetry is mature. And yes, he had been a soldier in WWII.

Re: translations, yes; unfortunately, I can't rhyme, and some of the originals are rhymed, as you can probably tell--IIRC, you know some Russian?

[duathir.livejournal.com]

Even unrhymed, they are good poems; very poignant.

I know very little Russian - I have never formally studied, only picked up a few phrases and songs, and enough Cyrillic to recognize a name or slowly spell out a line.

[med_cat]

Indeed...

Some of them are unrhymed in the original, "An Attempt of Consolation" and "Through the Years" are.

And I see re: Russian.

[duathir.livejournal.com]

I especially liked those two.

[med_cat]

I somehow thought you would :)

[oonaseckar.livejournal.com]

This is fantastic, funny and appropriately 'alive'.

"Life, life! I can't be dead, I won't be dead:
Damned if I'll die for any one," I said...
Glorious line! Makes the blood zing, one punches the air, cries 'Too true!'...

I've barely read any Graves - was put off by Sassoon's memoirs in which he was a prominent and rather smug and evasive figure, if memory serves. But evidently I've been missing out.

The last two lines, also wonderful. They transport you to another level of feeling and enthusiasm.

[duathir.livejournal.com]

I am very glad you like it. I have not read much Graves myself - did not care for The White Goddess - but I like the mini-series I Claudius, and also his poetry.

[oonaseckar.livejournal.com]

I'd forgotten about the novels completely. Turns out I have read quite a lot of Graves. I seem to remember the basic subtext as 'Never trust your mother, she's probably plotting against you. And avoid becoming Caesar if you can help it.'

[duathir.livejournal.com]

"Never trust any of your relatives, friends or lovers, for they are all continually plotting against or sleeping with each other." It was Claudius' grandmother Livia who set the tone there. Claudius survived by seeming too pathetic to be any threat.

"You'll often find that it suits your book
To be a bit smarter than you look.
You'll find the easiest method by far
Is to look a bit stupider than you are."

[oonaseckar.livejournal.com]

Too extremely true. I wonder if Bertie Wooster was actually following that policy with the aunts, half the time.

I remember Livia a bit, now - what a monster. "for they are all continually plotting against or sleeping with each other." - perhaps that ought to be 'and', rather than 'or'.

[duathir.livejournal.com]

It might be so. I thought him intelligent enough, and brave enough in a pinch. His problem was that he could not refuse a lady.

It could be that Graves' portrayal of Livia was unjust. Poison may have been common in Rome, but contaminated water was even more common.

[med_cat]

Sometimes, a prudent approach...;) Thanks for the rec, I'll have to take a look.