lit_luminary (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
lit_luminary) wrote2009-06-13 12:56 pm
lit_luminary) wrote2009-06-13 12:56 pm
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"An Art of Balance": Four Sonnets
The sequel to "Principles of Growth" is now tentatively titled "An Art of Balance," and has developed the majority of its plot (i.e., enough that I know more or less where it's going, but not so much that it can't surprise me in the middle). I fully expect it to be as long as "Principles" and to demand as great a time commitment.
The sonnets that follow are under a cut, as they could be considered vaguely spoiler-ish—not enough to ruin the story for anyone, though.
"Balance" will feature Chase's meeting Andromeda's clan, including his remaining blood relatives. Alcyone and Callisto are his aunts; Arista and Aurora are their (respective) daughters.
Alcyone to Andromeda
Who else would understand it, if not I,
Who bore and yielded her own son to time?
Natural to wish that he could know the sky,
But also to admit heights men can’t climb.
My sister, know that I know what you meant,
The clutch of age and death you hoped to cheat.
But though he’s born of sorcery’s intent,
There are some foes that no spell can defeat.
Still, part of me admires that you tried,
And wonders what your child might yet do.
The laws that your audacity defied,
They couldn’t stand against you. For you knew
The fiercest love that any of us know:
No mother’s heart can let her child go.
Callisto to Andromeda
Why did you stay when I warned you to leave?
I knew, I saw, that walls would spell your death.
My sister, you were never so naïve
As when you gave this child your last breath.
In him, unnatural magic and your will
In cacophonous combination blent.
How is it that you couldn’t bear to kill,
And yet would defy all nature’s intent?
Your hybrid walks paths now no man should know,
And how dare he look on me with your eyes!
You abandoned me, ‘Meda, long ago.
The dirge I sang is done—I’ve since grown wise.
Instruction he can have, but not my love.
What once was yours, he’s undeserving of.
Arista to Chase
I remember the aunt who gave you birth:
I see her in your features and your eyes.
So strange to think a man, confined to earth
Can comprehend so much of what we prize.
You’re of my generation and blood-kin,
But rarely spoken of, and never seen.
A sister could be loved and welcomed in,
But you are isolated in the green.
I cannot know the world in which you walk,
Nor think you can fully understand mine.
But perhaps it’s enough to meet and talk
And learn for as long as our paths entwine.
While you’re here, someone should play the guide.
Would you allow me, cousin, if I tried?
Aurora to Chase
You should have been my sister, as I’m yours,
For I once loved your mother as my own.
And though she died, her memory endures,
In both our minds and in your flesh and bone.
You know the mother of my blood, and yet
She’s not the only one I called that name.
Looking at you, I cannot now forget
We share a loss that makes us just the same.
If only you had been a woman born—
But you weren’t; that’s a fact I must forgive.
You’re undeserving…brother…of my scorn,
And in your eyes, I see our mother live.
I should steel my heart: I know you won’t stay,
And yet I find I can’t turn you away.
The sonnets that follow are under a cut, as they could be considered vaguely spoiler-ish—not enough to ruin the story for anyone, though.
"Balance" will feature Chase's meeting Andromeda's clan, including his remaining blood relatives. Alcyone and Callisto are his aunts; Arista and Aurora are their (respective) daughters.
Alcyone to Andromeda
Who else would understand it, if not I,
Who bore and yielded her own son to time?
Natural to wish that he could know the sky,
But also to admit heights men can’t climb.
My sister, know that I know what you meant,
The clutch of age and death you hoped to cheat.
But though he’s born of sorcery’s intent,
There are some foes that no spell can defeat.
Still, part of me admires that you tried,
And wonders what your child might yet do.
The laws that your audacity defied,
They couldn’t stand against you. For you knew
The fiercest love that any of us know:
No mother’s heart can let her child go.
Callisto to Andromeda
Why did you stay when I warned you to leave?
I knew, I saw, that walls would spell your death.
My sister, you were never so naïve
As when you gave this child your last breath.
In him, unnatural magic and your will
In cacophonous combination blent.
How is it that you couldn’t bear to kill,
And yet would defy all nature’s intent?
Your hybrid walks paths now no man should know,
And how dare he look on me with your eyes!
You abandoned me, ‘Meda, long ago.
The dirge I sang is done—I’ve since grown wise.
Instruction he can have, but not my love.
What once was yours, he’s undeserving of.
Arista to Chase
I remember the aunt who gave you birth:
I see her in your features and your eyes.
So strange to think a man, confined to earth
Can comprehend so much of what we prize.
You’re of my generation and blood-kin,
But rarely spoken of, and never seen.
A sister could be loved and welcomed in,
But you are isolated in the green.
I cannot know the world in which you walk,
Nor think you can fully understand mine.
But perhaps it’s enough to meet and talk
And learn for as long as our paths entwine.
While you’re here, someone should play the guide.
Would you allow me, cousin, if I tried?
Aurora to Chase
You should have been my sister, as I’m yours,
For I once loved your mother as my own.
And though she died, her memory endures,
In both our minds and in your flesh and bone.
You know the mother of my blood, and yet
She’s not the only one I called that name.
Looking at you, I cannot now forget
We share a loss that makes us just the same.
If only you had been a woman born—
But you weren’t; that’s a fact I must forgive.
You’re undeserving…brother…of my scorn,
And in your eyes, I see our mother live.
I should steel my heart: I know you won’t stay,
And yet I find I can’t turn you away.
no subject
these are beautiful and i'm SO looking forward to it. <3
no subject
The story will take a long time yet, but I'll keep you posted.