(Prompted by a translation of a Greek poem inscribed on the wall of the burial cave at Beit Guvrin, south of Jerusalem).
Betrothed to Me Forever
On a fruitless day in a place
whose faded paths forever
bode autumn, I stumbled on
a lover’s note scrawled upon a wall.
“I write wrapped tight in your dear
cloak”, it read, “just as fast as once
you clasped me in your arms.
“But grasp this well. Should
we be allowed to meet but once
again, we must barely bend our
heads in greeting.
“No shared smile, no slight sign that
in another place we were ever
more than fleeting friends.
“After those things – terrible things
– nought remains that I may do to
please you.
“So while I sleep with someone else,
I beg as you read my words, let
me flee while I allow you breadth
of freedom.
“In return, neither scream nor
strike this wall in anger. Believe
instead that I vow in Aphrodite’s name
we will be in eternity like lovers new –
betrothed as if forever.
“In sum, it is you I love. You’ll
always be my most beloved
one of all”.
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© Natalie Wood (31 October 2015)
1 comment:
Credit must go to journalist, Matti Friedman for first alerting me to the original inscription for this piece. He wrote in a Facebook post: "In a Hellenistic-era burial cave at Beit Guvrin today, written on a wall over a drawing of Cerberus, the three-headed dog of mythology, I encountered four freaky lines of ancient Greek. It seems like the kind of thing that should be better known. Apparently scholars aren't quite sure what to make of it. Here's the English translation:
"Nothing else remains that I can do for you, or that will pleasure you. I am sleeping with someone else now, but it is you I love, dearest to me of all. In the name of Aphrodite, I am happy about one thing, that your cloak has been left to me as a pledge.
But I flee, and permit you expanses of freedom.
Do not strike the wall, it only makes noise.
We will motion to each other; this will be the sign between us."
I then discovered a blog with a full translation of the fragment and wrote the poem around it. Enjoy!
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