Memery

[sovay]

Whatever you're reading right now, what does it make you think of?

Line 81 of Euripides' Helen, spoken by the Greek Teukros to the woman he does not know is Helen -- for all Greece hates the daughter of Zeus, μισεῖ γὰρ Ἑλλὰς πᾶσα τὴν Διὸς κόρην -- touched off an Imagist flash in my brain . . .

All Greece hates
the still eyes in the white face,
the lustre as of olives
where she stands,
and the white hands.

All Greece reviles
the wan face when she smiles,
hating it deeper still
when it grows wan and white,
remembering past enchantments
and past ills.

Greece sees, unmoved,
God's daughter, born of love,
the beauty of cool feet
and slenderest knees,
could love indeed the maid,
only if she were laid,
white ash amid funereal cypresses.
(H.D., "Helen")

. . . and now I'm slightly more inclined to read Helen in Egypt than to continue with the actual Helen in Egypt I have here, conversing anonymous with Aias' brother beside the Nile. So, join the the club. Think tangentially. Give me your free associations!

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I, of course, am thinking about the varient texts of this that we read in Babcock's textual criticism class last year...
"the still eyes in the white face" reminds me somehow of Edward Gorey's works. Or maybe something like Gorey crossed with Alma-Tadema (sp?) Which would be a weird combination.
The clock on this computer reminds me I'm spending too much time reading this, instead of Order and Exclusion.

[sovay]

Edward Gorey crossed with Alma-Tadema would be terrific: beautifully rendered classical scenes with creepy Victorian storylines. I would so hang those on my wall . . .

[fleurdelis28.livejournal.com]

"The still eyes in the white face" most immediately reminds me of Gollum and the moon. Which is creepy, because he's so not like Helen of Troy.