from "Semele Recycled" But then your great voice rang out…
““from "Semele Recycled" But then your great voice rang out under the skies my name!-- and all those private names for the parts and places that had loved you best. And they stirred in their nest of hay and dung. The distraught old ladies chasing their lost altar, and the seers pursuing my skull, their lost employment, and the tumbling boys, who wanted the magic marbles, and the runaway groom, and the fisherman's thirteen children, set up such a clamor, with their cries of "Miracle!" that our two bodies met like a thunderclap in midday-- right at the corner of that wretched field with its broken fenceposts and startled, skinny cattle. We fell in a heap on the compost heap and all our loving parts made love at once, while the bystanders cheered and prayed and hid their eyes and then went decently about their business. And here is is, moonlight again; we've bathed in the river and are sweet and wholesome once more. We kneel side by side in the sand; we worship each other in whispers. But the inner parts remember fermenting hay, the comfortable odor of dung, the animal incense, and passion, its bloody labor, its birth and rebirth and decay.””
About This Quote
This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.
A vivid, chaotic tableau of love, desire, and mortality set amid rustic, earthy imagery, juxtaposing sacred and profane.
In simple terms: Intense love amid messy, natural surroundings.
Key Takeaway
Find beauty in the raw, imperfect moments.
Themes
love
death
nature
rebirth
earthiness
Mood
passionate
earthy
reflective
Type
poetic
sensual
philosophical
When to use this quote
- intimate encounters
- ritualistic celebrations
- reflection on mortality
- creative writing
- performance art
Key Concepts
sensuality
transcendence
ritual
humanity
Questions to Reflect On
- What does the raw setting reveal about love?
- How does decay shape desire?
A Different Perspective
The explicit sexual content may limit broader acceptance.