Candles flicker, the cantors chant
and the solemn sermon of the priest
fills the church with blackness.
Longing for a scrap of comfort,
I gaze at the austere Archangel
standing sentry at the sacred gate.
Fear and foreboding fill me.
He has discarded his golden mail
and clad in black, he grips
a basket and a rusty scythe.
His face is nothing but a skull
—menacing, and savage.
She rises silently, pale, and peaceful.
Under the stern gaze of the saints
she shrouds herself in candlelight
and in the mists of olive leaves
burning in the scented censer.
I push, jostle and hurry to be by her side.
"The boy is unhinged," many whisper.
With hands entwined, we step out
into the searing blaze of the noonday sun.
Despondent cicadas hush their song
and the grey old windmill stretches out
its scrawny arms up to the Lord Jehovah.
With a rusty voice, it demands
an answer but the Lord is silent.
Anguished, it stares at the spire
in search of a shred of solace—
fifteen weeping doves
are painting the belfry black.
Perched on the wall by the iron gate,
we gaze at the yellow woodland
where thirteen mimosas bloomed in May.
“We were so happy then," she whispers
and I realize I will live a willing prisoner among
those blossoming mimosas for the rest of my days.
Byzantine incantations and haunting chants
echo in the sterile marble garden.
The pungent scent of rosemary grows stronger
and her lips have turned to an icy shade of blue.
Mourners wail, and four sombre pallbearers
lower her white coffin into an open grave.
Part of the cycle of poems thirteen silk verses
A few words about the poem…
The Epitaph: A Meditation on Love, Grief, and Memory – The Cyprus Poems
Within the "Cyprus Poems" collection, and specifically within the haunting sequence "Thirteen Silk Verses," poetry becomes a lens through which grief, love, and the profound silences of loss are viewed. The final poem of this series, "The Epitaph," resonates as an elegy for a lost beloved, weaving together images of youth and death in a tone that is both intimate and universal. Through its language and imagery, the poem encapsulates the raw, hallucinatory sorrow of a young boy, placing him within a space where past joy and present desolation collide.
Set against the ritualistic austerity of a Greek Orthodox funeral, "The Epitaph" draws the reader into the protagonist’s experience, offering a glimpse of his inner turmoil. Candles flicker, cantors chant, and the priest’s words weave through the air like a heavy shroud. The mourners, solemn and respectful, fade into the background as the boy fixates on the austere image of the Archangel standing sentry at the church’s sacred gate. No longer clothed in the golden mail of Byzantine tradition, the Archangel is depicted in dark, forbidding robes, clutching a scythe—a symbol of death stripped of mercy. This distorted figure merges the sanctity of religious iconography with the savagery of mortality, heightening the sense of foreboding.
The scene intensifies as the girl appears, silent and ethereal, shrouded in the soft, flickering light of candles and the faint smoke of burning olive leaves. Her reappearance is neither earthly nor wholly spiritual; she hovers in a liminal space, her pallor accentuated by the ceremonial incense and the glimmer of candlelight. The boy’s impulse to reach her, to push through the whispers of onlookers who dismiss him as “unhinged,” reveals the depth of his grief—a love so consuming that it transcends decorum and reason.
As they step into the relentless sunlight, nature itself mirrors the boy's inner desolation. The chirping of cicadas falls silent, and an old windmill, anthropomorphised with "scrawny arms," reaches out to the heavens in a silent plea. The windmill, an emblem of rural life and endurance, becomes a witness to this moment of sorrow, silently beseeching the divine for solace that does not come. In the distance, the spire looms, its belfry darkened by “fifteen weeping doves.” Each dove appears as a mourner, adding to the atmosphere of collective grief.
The setting shifts once more, transporting the boy and his beloved to a wall by the cemetery's iron gate, where they gaze at a grove of mimosas. "We were so happy then," she whispers, linking the ephemeral beauty of those blooms to the memories they shared. The image of "thirteen mimosas" serves as both a reminder of past joy and an anchor to the present, symbolising the ways in which he will remain tethered to her memory. This image also resonates within the broader theme of the series, evoking the bittersweet acceptance that accompanies the act of remembrance.
In its final verses, "The Epitaph" plunges the reader back into the solemnity of the funeral rites. Amid the scents of rosemary and incense, the girl’s pallor becomes icy, foreshadowing her ultimate departure into the earth. The mourners’ wails underscore the poem's exploration of collective mourning, yet the boy's grief feels intensely personal, drawing the reader into the intimate realm of his sorrow. As four pallbearers lower her into the grave, the ritual reaches its inevitable conclusion, cementing the girl’s transition from life to memory.
Much like other tragic heroines invoked throughout the cycle, such as Ophelia, Eurydice, and Giulietta, the girl in "The Epitaph" embodies a universal archetype of youthful love cut short. These mythic allusions enrich the narrative, binding the protagonist’s story to an age-old tradition of mourning and memorialisation. Just as Ophelia’s drowning or Eurydice’s loss to the underworld became symbols of unfulfilled love, the boy’s journey through grief taps into these deeper resonances, allowing the poem to speak across cultural and temporal boundaries.
In its portrayal of loss, "The Epitaph" masterfully captures the blurred line between memory and reality. Its visual and sensory details envelop the reader, drawing them into a world where grief is palpable, almost tangible. The poet’s descriptive language heightens the solemnity without becoming overwhelming, allowing the poem to remain a meditation rather than a declaration. The final verses linger in the mind, much like the afterimage of a candle flame, reminding readers of the enduring power of love and the silent, unyielding grip of memory.
Analysis of Themes
"The Epitaph" delves into themes of love, loss, and memory, examining how grief distorts time and reality. The recurring imagery of sacred rituals juxtaposed with elements of decay and desolation serves to illustrate the tension between memory and acceptance. The poem suggests that love, once lost, leaves an indelible mark, anchoring the living to the dead in ways that defy logical boundaries.
Analysis of the Verse
The verse structure of "The Epitaph" is marked by its fluid movement between scenes, creating an almost cinematic quality. The poet employs short, evocative lines that mirror the fragmented nature of grief. The lack of strict metre allows for a conversational tone, while the rhythmic repetition of religious and natural symbols provides continuity and depth.
Analysis of the Symbolism
Symbolism is central to "The Epitaph," with the Archangel, windmill, and mimosas each representing facets of the boy’s mourning process. The Archangel’s scythe and skull underscore the finality of death, while the mimosas represent both beauty and fragility, serving as a metaphor for their fleeting love. The image of the doves on the belfry speaks to collective grief, situating the boy’s sorrow within a wider human experience.
Main Poetic Imagery
The poem's imagery is anchored in contrasts: light and shadow, sacred and decayed, past and present. The flickering candles, the desolate windmill, and the blooming mimosas all serve to reinforce the tension between memory and loss. The use of olfactory details, like incense and rosemary, adds a visceral layer to the imagery, engaging the reader's senses and enhancing the emotional resonance of the verses.
Religious Symbolism Impact
Religious symbolism pervades "The Epitaph," adding gravity to the boy’s mourning. The Archangel, stripped of golden mail and transformed into a spectral figure, embodies the poem’s dark undercurrent. The rituals of the church, the priest’s sermon, and the incantations of mourners all contribute to an atmosphere where the sacred merges with the personal. This intersection of religion and grief provides the poem with a sense of solemn universality, as the boy’s love is memorialised within the timeless framework of faith.
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