Poetry: Torture

Jeremiah 20: 7-12

You duped me, O Lord, and I let myself be duped;
you were too strong for me, and you triumphed.
All the day I am an object of laughter;
everyone mocks me.

Whenever I speak, I must cry out,
violence and outrage is my message;
The word of the Lord has brought me
derision and reproach all the day.

I say to myself, I will not mention him,
I will speak in his name no more.
But then it becomes like fire burning in my heart,
imprisoned in my bones;
I grow weary holding it in,
I cannot endure it.

Yes, I hear the whisperings of many:
'Terror on every side!
Denounce! let us denounce him!'
All those who were my friends
are on the watch for any misstep of mine.
'Perhaps he will be trapped;
then we can prevail,
and take our vengeance on him.'

But the Lord is with me, like a mighty champion:
my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph.
In their failure, they will be put to utter shame,
to lasting, unforgettable confusion.

O Lord of hosts, you who test the just,
who probe the mind and heart,
Let me witness the vengeance you take on them,
for to you I have entrusted my cause.

Sing to the Lord,
praise the Lord,
For he has rescued the life of the poor
from the power of the wicked!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have been lied to.
I was told it was easy,
Just love God, follow his word, want him.
I heard the stories, the miracles, the victories.
Recalling upon the savior with pure awe.

I wanted this.
I wanted to be closer to the creator.
I did not know the price.
Hearing a story that gives warnings does nothing.
Ignorant and hopeful, I went into the dark.

Walking closer to God is painful.
It requires giving up your will.
It means being mocked for choosing love over the material.
Misunderstood, feared, and alone;
I walked with my angels and the Lord.

They claim that I do not know him.
They claim that my faith is wrong.
They claim that I lost my logic.
They claim that I worship demons.

Loving God truly means to sacrifice your being to him, for him.
Temptations sprout like weeds,
Pulling you into a web of lies,
Fighting to draw you back,
Satan laughs in rejoice at every fall
Into the sin he is slaved to.

Angered at a proximity to God he lost,
Satan rages in jealousy and attacks.
And oh, how painful and frightening
These events are.

Death cannot be delivered from a sinful hand.
Bound by his creation,
Demons do no more than they are permitted
But still rejoice in their ability to harm.

And oh, how they harm.
They strike at you.
Pull your body into fear and spit lies.
Rarely there is physical debris left afterwards...
But
That makes their marks no less painful.

And it's not just them.

To walk with God is deny oneself.
I am no longer controlled by the material.
The people I know and knew hold no bondage over me.
The sins I have been tainted with?
Bleached away in the terrifying light of the Lord.

Nothing is scarier than someone who has no bounds.
To walk and live completely in their belief and faith,
What a horrifying thought.
But this is what God asks.
And when we do, oh how our neighbors tremble.
They can only feel right again by casting stones.

Jesus said, make the weakest stone the cornerstone.
Our foundation is built on trust.
To trust completely, faith of a child,
This is what it means to love him.

How far will you go for your faith?
The world asks you.
Your mother, brother, father... asks you.
God asks you.
To have faith is to be tested.
Are you strong enough to rely on our creator?

Choosing God is not a "point of no-return", it is a choice made every second of every day and the answer can change at any moment in time. Can you handle that burden? The constant temptations swirl around and mock you for choosing a path that doesn't involve them. Your peers, your siblings, society... surely will never understand why you trudge forward into the darkness that God calls you to when they are scared to live without fluorescent lights. There will be many who disagree with your choice, actively seeking your destruction as long as you move forward. But if you learnt just one thing from playing addictive video games as a child, isn't it true that the closer that your character becomes to victory that the enemies become stronger and more difficult to move past?

I know all this now. I knew not this then.
When I started my choice,
How could I have known
The pain of choosing Love.

Yahweh; to you I pray.
Creator, love me.
Savior, judge me.
Spirit, guide me.
At least for this second, I will go on.
With my angel at my side and a bible in my hand,
God, I willing to do your will.

And this time I know the consequences.

Poetry: You, Brother

I've listened to all the words you say
The way they negative me... in every way.
You call me stupid; fine.
You call me worthless and dumb.
I can take some criticism.

You say that life would be better without me.
I try and ignore the feeling that you might be right.
You claim superiority and I fight myself;
Trying to make myself believe that you say these things
Because you fear that I might be better.

You say I don't swear because I'm weak.
You say I'm religious because I have no original thought.
You say that I take so long to do my homework because I'm dumb;
That truly smart people don't have to do the work,
Let alone have it take so long.

You say tears are for the immature.
You say all my friends are sluts because they flirt with you.
Why would they flirt with you?
(And even if they did, that does not make them such a horrible thing)

You make it a game,
Trying to see how many times you can make me cry.
And then you laugh as if each tear is a victory.
You say I'm ugly. I'm short. I'm fat. I'm stupid.

Yes, I heard you the first 100 times.
Please, say it again because apparently you don't think
That I heard you.
Well, guess what?
I heard you.

You say that I don't know love
(When I understand empathy better)
That I should be grateful to be appreciated by our parents.
As if we get treated differently by them
(If we chose the same actions, I'd doubt it)

You call me a hypocrite for being poor
And hating welfare.
For feeling sad when someone dies
When I believe in Heaven.
For wanting to preserve human life
While I live an omnivore lifestyle
For hating on feminism
When I point out some generalizations
(Because noticing that males are generally taller is sexist?)

You say that I hate you.
You say that I think life is better without you.
You say that I drove you to act this way.
You say that once again, it's my fault
For your actions.

You blame me for your faulty life choices.
You blame me for your insecurities.
You say that it's my fault that our sister is exposed
To the trash that you show her.
That her life would be better without mine.
Of course, you say this with profanity.

Eventually, I talk back.
Eventually, I snap.
Eventually, I cannot handle hearing all of this negative garbage
That you constantly spit at me
As if I was some vagabond on the street.

Then you want to fight.
You start with more emotionally based garbage
That you pretend supports your fake political views
That you use to argue that my God is a joke
That you tie into the secrets I idiotically told you once
So many years ago that I forgot.

Yet the pain is still fresh.

I hear it all
But I respond too.
So of course, you believe
That I "like the sound of my own voice"
And wasn't listening at all.
When every word you utter punctures my heart just a little more.

So you get madder and madder
And then you take a swing.
So I hit you back
And then we start kicking each other.
And you think it's funny.
So I end it.
And then you take another swing
Which of course,
Bruises me.

And then you make it out
As if the fight didn't happen
That I threw one
So you threw another back
Even though yours were stronger
More painful
And left bruises.
Mine never did.

Then again,
You never did know how to hold back.
I almost always do.

Then you complain
As if I forced you
To get into trouble
As if it was my doing
That made you act poorly.

And so the cussing begins
Again.

The mocking never stops.
That evil glare always is looking down on me.
It haunts my nightmares
And scares my fears away
With its horribleness.
Great monster in my closet,
I wish you were a demon.

At least then, I could summon a priest
To perform an exorcism.

You say that I'm such a "daddy's girl"
When you try your best
To rival him in personality.
And all the actions you perform in anger
Are the ones he did less severely
That you loathed and swore in oath
To never repeat yourself.

But of course,
Unlike our father,
You never regret the decisions you make;
Because of course,
You blame them on me.

You mock my dedication
My choice of friends
My negative opinions on things that you highly value
My perseverance
My values that difference from yours
My hard work (as if trying your best is pitiful)
My struggles
My emotions
My happiness
My choice in clothing
My singing abilities
My voice
My looks
My logic
Me.

When was the last time
You appreciated me?
When was the last time
That we shared a smile?
When was the last time
That the word "brother"
Did not shake my heart with fear?
When was the last time
We played together out of mutual desire?
When was the last time
That we rode our bikes together?
When was the last time
That we held hands?
When was the last time
That I knew you?

Before you were depressed, certainly.
Before you sliced my wrist, definitely.
Before you revoked your faith, guaranteed.
Before we attended the same school, of course.
Before you taught me all of the dirty secrets of the world that have forever tainted me.

I did not want to know swearing.
I did not want to know drugs.
I did not want to know abuse.
I did not want to know how to skin a cow.
I did not want to know "adult cartoons".
I did not want to know crude humor.
I did not want to know metal.
I did not want to know familial issues.
I did not want to know loneliness.

But you showed it all to me anyways.

You opened me eyes to the world,
And I saw it covered in darkness.

Then you spent the moments that I look at it in horror
To whisper with malice in my ear
That what I see
Is my fault
And my fault only.

So is it?
I'm asking you, brother.
As someone who apparently knows the world better than I
As someone who has lived on this planet for 2 years longer
As someone who believes that they know all the right answers
As someone who constantly says that I'm wrong...

What fault in the world should I call my own?
What part of your life have I impacted so greatly that I am to take blame for it all?
Why do you go out of your way to harm me?
What about myself do you find so much enjoyment in torturing?
Are you sadistic?
Am I a masochist for staying in contact with you?

It all hurts too much
And I fear for far too long.
Am I past mending?

You were first word, brother.
I fear you will be my last.

12 Days of Christmas

Ever wondered where a Christmas Carol came from? Well, unless they were invented by a pop singer in the last 20 years, the song has a deeper meaning to it than the nonsense that is sung. Just evaluate the "12 Days of Christmas"...

A Partridge in a Pear Tree:

Jesus the Christ

Two Turtle Doves: Testaments-

Old

New

Three French Hens: Virtues- 

Faith

Hope

Love

Four Calling Birds: Gospels- 

Matthew

Mark

Luke

John

Five Golden Rings: Torah- 

Genesis

Exodus

Leviticus

Numbers

Deuteronomy

Six Geese A-laying: 6 Days of Creation-

Darkness, light, the heavens, the earth

Heaven

Dry land, the seas, vegetation

The stars, sun, and moon

Living creatures in the water, birds in the air

Land animals, people

(rest)

Seven Swans a Swimming: Gifts of Holy Spirit- 

Prophecy

Ministry

Teaching

Exhortation

Giving

Leading

Compassion

Eight Maids A-milking: Beatitudes- 

blessed are the poor in spirit

those who mourn

the meek

those who hunger and thirst for righteousness

the merciful

the pure in heart

the peacemakers

those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake

Nine Ladies Dancing: Fruit of Holy Spirit- 

Love

Joy

Peace

Patience

Kindness

Generosity

Faithfulness

Gentleness

Self-control

Ten Lords A-leaping: 10 Commandments- 

you shall have no other gods before me

do not make an idol

do not take God’s name in vain

remember the Sabbath day

honor your father and mother

do not murder

do not commit adultery

do not steal

do not bear false witness

do not covet

Eleven Pipers Piping: 11 Faithful Apostles- (not Judas Iscariot)

Simon Peter

Andrew

James

John

Philip

Bartholomew

Matthew

Thomas

James bar Alphaeus

Simon the Zealot

Judas bar James

Twelve Drummers Drumming: 12 Points in Apostle’s Creed-

I believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord.

He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.

He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell.

On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the Holy catholic Church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and life everlasting.

Essay: The Lais

Is This Love?

Love is a complicated emotion. In fact, try as they might, most people cannot give a solid definition as to what love is without falling into a stream of metaphors. The Lais by Marie de France contains twelve stories about people who experience love. However, not every story exhibits a true or healthy love. The purity and strength of love is judged in this collection of stories by the interactions between the main lovers and the representation of women. To be considered an appropriate love, there are a few rules. Love must paramount all other goals; becoming a reason for sacrifice, devotion, and equality in their relationship; but cannot be a reason for harming others. Love may not be a method to achieve another goal. These rules and the way that they are acted upon in The Lais are Marie’s way of expressing what she considers  true love to be.

During Marie de France’s life, love was not commonly acted upon between those of nobility because marriage was usually the result of a diplomatic agreement thus marriage was not usually associated with love. However, times were changing and The Lais became part of the transition as they focus on the importance of love, allowing love to transcend societal obligations, law, time, distance, reality, and marital agreements. This strong priority for love in these stories emphasizes a deep need people have for intimate relationships with others that Marie de France viewed as important. While not all of the lovers in these stories have happy endings, Marie de France emphasized the desire that every person has to be loved.

The story of “Guigemar” is about a man who comes across a ship that takes him to a foreign land where he falls in love with the queen who was locked up in a tower by her jealous husband. “If you can find a loyal love, you should love and serve it faithfully, be at its command. Guigemar was deeply in love; he must either get help quickly or live in misery. So love inspires bravery in him: he reveals his desires to the lady.” (Guigemar 493-500) They spend over a year together before he must leave, whereupon she ties his shirt up in knots, he gives her a chastity belt, then two years later she leaves her husband by boat. She becomes hostage to a man named Meriaduc and thus Guigemar has to fight and destroy him to regain his lover. (pg 30-55) In this story, Guigemar and the queen have a true love. While she was married when they met, no malicious action was ever taken on the husband. When Meriaduc tried to prevent the love however, he met a tragic end as Marie de France, who is an active character in all her stories, points out that true love is number one. While separate, Guigemar and the women remained faithful to each other through the chastity belt and the knotted shirt. Unlike her husband, Guigemar did not force the queen to live his way and so it was a mutual desire for their relationship to act out as it did. Both characters acted upon their love. Guigemar fought Meriaduc for her freedom while she actively refused other male attempts and escaped her husband for love.

Just like Penelope from The Odyssey, some women cannot make up their minds regarding love. “Chaitevel” is a story about a woman who cannot decide who she loves more out of her four suitors. 

“The lady had good sense: she took her time to consider, to find out and to ask which of them would be best to love. They were all of such great merit one could not choose the best.” (Chaitevel 49-54) Because she is unwilling to make a decision, three of them die and the last becomes gravely injured during a tournament. She lost all of them because she could not choose one. (pg 181-188) The men that were fighting for her were dedicated and sacrificed their time for her love. However, since she had all the power to choose who to have, their love was mocked unintentionally. She never made a choice or sacrificed the opportunity to have the others for just one of them and that gamble was too high for her inability to resolve this situation made it so that it had to resolve itself.

Marie de France mentions in “Lanval” that love overrules laws, social etiquette, and duty. Lanval was a great knight who was lonely because he was envied. He ended up meeting a maiden who promised him extreme riches and love as long as she was his secret. However, he ended up spilling his story after Guinevere, King Arthur’s wife, tried to seduce him. “[The queen] fell at [her husband’s] feet, asked his mercy, saying that Lanval had dishonored her; he had asked for her love, and because she refused him he insulted and offended her: he boasted of a love who was so refined and nobel and proud that her chambermaid, the poorest one who served her, was better than the queen.” (Lanval 315-324) King Arthur was not amused and a trial was held, the verdict being release if he had proof but banishment if not. Even though the maiden was under no obligation to help Lanval after he broke his promise, because he broke it due to his love for her, she saved him and stole him away, never to be seen again. (pg 105-123) Lanval chose to remain faithful to his lover rather than keeping her, showing that his love for his maiden was more than just physical or beneficial to him. This sacrifice in combination with his extreme honesty during the trial justifies their love as he does not try to cheat his way out of banishment but rather remains devoted, agreeing to the king’s unjust charges. This story opposes “Chaitevel” in that Lanval makes his choice and sticks to her even though there are several opportunities to back down but the woman in “Chaitevel” loses everything because she is indecisive.

Love is the driving force behind the actions in these stories, whether that love is purely physical or legitimate. In “Equitan”, the king falls in love with his seneschal’s wife because she is very beautiful. She refuses his advances until he gives her complete control in their relationship. “You be the lord and I’ll be the servant — you be the proud one and I’ll be the beggar! The king pleaded with her, begged her so often for mercy, that she promised him her love and granted him possession of her body.” (Equitan 175-180) They were lovers for a while until his seneschal mentions a need for the king to wed. The seneschal’s wife convinces the king to kill her husband so that they can be together but their lust for each other overwhelms them so they ruin their own plan by having sex. They then die the way that they intended the seneschal to, a boiling bath. (pg 60-69) The moral of the story is simple, “Whoever wants to hear some sound advice can profit from this example: he who plans evil for another may have that evil rebound back on him.” (Equitan 307-310) This tale illustrates that while love is considered very important, it must be a true love and there can be no intention of harm. The seneschal was described as very necessary, useful, and loyal to his king. He took care of a plethora of the affairs of the king’s possessions and so the decision to kill him was more unjustifiable than it was to begin with. The seneschal’s wife was obsessed with control and plotted against her husband after her power over the king became at risk. She also was not willing to make the appropriate sacrifice when it was revealed that the king needed a spouse. All of these observations reveal that the two lovers did not have a true love and thus deserved their end.

To show the correct course of action that the seneschal’s wife should have taken in “Equitan”, the next story, “Le Fresne” is about twins who separate at birth and the one that gets abandoned is left at a church where Gurun meets and falls in love with her. They have an affair and live in Gurun’s house until he has to marry La Codre. She then dutifully acts as a servant in his household, “No matter what she saw, it didn’t seem to bother her; she didn’t even seem a bit angry. She waited on the bride-to-be courteously and efficiently. Everybody who saw this thought it a great marvel. Her mother inspected her carefully, and began to love and admire her.” (Le Fresne 376-384) baring no grudges against the couple until it is revealed that she is the sister of La Codre. When the truth is revealed the marriage is annulled so Le Fresne is allowed to marry Gurun. La Codre finds her own man later in life. (pg 73-87) La Fresne was willing to remain Gurun’s mistress when it was deemed that she not marriage material and did so without complaint. This example of self sacrifice shows the extent of her devotions. He gave a lot of money to the abbey that she lived at to receive “Lord’s Rights” to visit then take her home. It is even mentioned that she is the one he wanted to marry and while everyone loved her but they deemed that she was not marriageable and so he had to accept another’s hand. When the seneschal’s wife acted to preserve the power in the affair that they had, she died. When Le Fresne accepted her fate and still remained true to Gurun, she was able to get what she wanted. These stories were told in sequence so that it was easy to view them as ‘what not to do’ and ‘what to do’.

Families always make love complicated. In “Les Deux Amanz”, the king refuses to allow his daughter to marry so he forms a plan that would make it difficult for his daughter to wed. “So he sent word far and near, to this effect: whoever wanted to win his daughter should know one thing for certain: it was decreed and destined that he would have to carry her in his arms to the summit of the mountain outside the city without stopping to rest.” (Les Deux Amanz 32-38) Unfortunately, a count’s son falls in love with the girl so he decides to brave the mountain. She gathers a potion that will give him strength during the climb but he refuses so when he reaches the top, he dies. She dies shortly after from sadness. (pg 126-133) The boy was in love with the girl. This was evident in his conviction to brave the mountain to have the right to marry her. However, he was prideful and wanted to be viewed as magnificent so he chose glory over his love. Her love for him was pure. She did not want to marry only because she did not want to take the risk. When he decided to brave the mountain, she starved herself to lessen his difficulty. After he died from climbing, her sadness was so severe that she also perished. In these regards, their love was not true love because while they both loved each other, he chose pride first.

A woman’s pride comes from her view of her husband. Therefore, when a woman found out a horrible secret about her spouse, the news was so shocking that she became so repulsed that she decided to leave her spouse in “Bisclavret”. The wife learns of the werewolf, “The lady heard this wonder and turned scarlet from fear; she was terrified of the whole adventure. Over and over she considered how she might get rid of him; she never wanted to sleep with him again.” (Bisclavret 97-102) but due to her repulsion, convinces a knight that loves her into stealing her husband’s manhood so she can leave her man. However, the wolf finds the king and wins his favor so that when the traitorous wife and knight come to visit, the king banishes them and the wolf becomes man once more. (pg 92-100) The Baron’s wife did not love the knight but rather used him because she was repulsed by her husband. Furthermore, before she knew the Baron’s secret, she loved him. Because of her frivolity in love, she and all of her daughters lived their lives without noses in exile. It was found in learning the truth that her devotions towards her husband were only skin-deep so she chose the knight as a new partner because he was easy to manipulate and fully man. The Baron’s wife did not love.

When is it justifiable to murder your husband when you love someone else? Apparently, they must be the cause of the lovers’ downfall. In “Yonec” a woman is locked up by her husband so she wishes for a lover and one appears. “Now she would rather remain here than look for pleasure elsewhere. She wanted to see her love all the time and enjoy herself with him. As soon as her lord departed, night or day, early or late, she had him all to her pleasure.” (Yonec 217-223) However, she lacked moderation in summoning him so they were discovered and he died. The woman made her husband forget the ordeal and gave birth to her bastard, Yonec. When he was grown, she told him the truth of his birth as she was told to by her lover’s prophecy then promptly died. Yonec beheaded his stepfather, becoming lord. (pg 137-152) The woman loved her knight but she forgot to be careful so she caused his death. In dying, he told her how his revenge would be brought about and it happened as he promised because their love was true. Yonec was willing to avenge the death of his true father because he realized, “…the pain and the grief that they suffered for love.” (Yonec 553-554) The knight sacrificed his life for the woman and she dutifully followed his words until she was finally able to join with him once more.

Love is very patient in “Milun”. In the story, a knight falls in love with the daughter of a nobel man. She gets pregnant, the child is given to her sister, the knight leaves for fame, she gets married off, and then he returns to find out that they are now neighbors. They spend twenty years sending secret messages to each other through a swan until there is a rival for the knight’s abilities in tournaments, ‘The Peerless One’. The knight goes off to fight him and discovers that ‘The Peerless One’ is the knight’s son. “Milun told his son how he loved the boy’s mother, and how her father had given her to a baron of that region, and how he had continued loving her, and she him, with all her heart, and how he used the swan as a messenger, having the bird carry his letters, since he couldn’t trust anyone else.” (Milun 490-498) They decide to kill the woman’s husband so that they can be reunited as a family only to discover his death upon their return. (pg 162-177) The knight and the woman are both really dedicated to each other as is shown by their long term devotion. The decision to kill the husband so that they could be reunited as a family is not considered negatory in this circumstance because his death was not caused by them nor was it to be done with malice or for the purpose of ‘winning’. If the knight was malicious enough to force their love to elope then he would have used his skills and done so long ago instead of waiting until he found his son.

What does it mean to truly love someone? In “Laustic”, a man loves his neighbors’s wife and she feels the same. They would meet at the windows of their houses to talk, give each other gifts, and admire their physique. When the husband becomes irritable due to her constant presence at the window, he traps the nightingale whom he believes is the reason for her nightly absences. “She asked her lord for the bird but he killed it out of spite, he broke its neck in his hands — too vicious an act — and threw the body on the the lady; her shift was stained with blood, a little, on her breast.” (Laustic 113-119) When she lost her reason to visit the window, she let her love know by giving him the dead bird and he kept it with him forever. (pg 155-159) The husband was the one stopping their love from becoming anything more or allowing it to continue. However, no action is taken on the husband for being an obstacle in their love because he never directly prevented it. This proves that their love was pure and that they were both willing to sacrifice the ability to be together to continue a greater devotion. When the man kept the bird in the end, it was his way of remaining faithful to a love he could never materialize.

“Chevrefoil” is very similar to “Laustic” in that the main character does not get the woman because the timing and the other characters made it so. Tristam loves the king’s wife so he is banished. However, when the queen travels to attend a feast, he attempts to make himself known to her on a hazel branch.“If the queen noticed it — and she should be on the watch for it, for it happened before and she had noticed it then — she’d know when she saw it, that the piece of wood had come from her love.” (Chevrefoil 55-60) She detected the wood and stops her travels to find him in the woods whereupon they have a short conversation about how Tristam can win the affections of the king again but it ends with them parting ways. (pg 190-193) The love that Tristam and the queen have is bittersweet. Their love is true but their circumstances fail to allow fruition because neither of them have the opportunity to act upon that love. In this way, their love is not the most important value to either of them and this is shown more clearly when they reunited because they spent their time discussing how to win the king’s favor instead of rejoicing in their love.

As long as everyone accepts a sin made through love then it does not matter that the sin was made. In fact, sometimes the spouse that prevents the union from occurring, such as the king in ‘Chevrefoil,’ may support true love. This lesson was in “Eliduc” whereupon a man is slandered and thus banished so he goes on a trip to a foreign land and falls in love with a woman even though he promised his wife that he would not. The woman, Guilliadun, loves him too but she does not know that he is married. “They made their pledges to each other; they spoke no more that time. Eliduc went to his lodging; he was filled with joy, he had done well. He was often able to speak to his love, there was great affection between them.” (Eliduc 537-542) They pursue a courtly love and after a year he returns home because the king needs his services. He decides to go back and retrieve Guilliadun but on the way home she learns of his marriage and faints dead. His wife, Guideluec, learns of his lover and witnesses resurrecting weasels so she revives Guilliadun. Eliduc learns of his love’s awakening and rejoices. Guideluec sees his love for the girl and decides to join a covent as a nun so that they can be wed. After several years of marriage, Eliduc and Guilliadun join the church as well. (pg 196-229) Guilliadun and Guideluec both had true love for Eliduc. Guilliadun showed her devotion but allowed Eliduc to not act upon it during their year together. When she learned of his betrayal, she died. Guideluec sacrificed her rights to her husband when she learned of his love of another. She viewed love as such an important part of life that when she was no longer the love of her husband’s life, she let him go. Eliduc on the other hand, followed the example of “Chaitevel” a little too strongly. He spent a year trying to decide if he loved his mistress or his wife more. After he lost his mistress, he decided that he loved her more but it was too late. If it was not for the graces of his wife, he would have had a melancholy existence. However, his love for Guilliadun was indeed true even if it did take him a while to realize so their lives were happy. Also the conflicts revolving around their Christianity for engaging in this behavior was further relieved when they eventually turned away from human love to God, which in Marie de France’s opinion, resolved all conflicts.

Everyone experiences love in a different way with different people. Sometimes this love is purely physical, other times platonic. Love is not limited to circumstances, distance, or law. Marie de France emphasized the importance of all kinds of love and the roles that they contribute in society in The Lais. While there are many different ways of representing love, a healthy love, a true love, a justifiable love must be mutual, be devoid of hate, have acts of devotion, and must rise above the circumstances that it is limited in. The twelves lais written in this piece of literature show examples of loves that fail, but more importantly, of love that succeeds.

If the lais are looked at statistically half of the lais end in tragedy whilst the other half end well for the lovers. Guigemar, Le Fresne, Lanval, Yonec, Milun, as well as Eliduc all end well for the lovers while Equitan, Bisclavret, Les Deux Amanz, Laustic, Chaitivel, and Chevrefoil end poorly. The order that the lais were written in is an every-other pattern: good, bad, good, bad, good, bad, good, bad, good, bad, bad, good. Furthermore, many of the stories in the lais are the same but how the lovers reacted to their situations determined their fate. This was done purposefully as Marie de France emphasized what true love is, how it should be expressed, and the limitations on what is proper for someone to do if they truly were in love. For example, self sacrifice is a legitimate way to show your love but murdering the people that are situational obstacles that hold no resentment is not.

During this time in life, love was finally becoming an important part of life. Marie de France used her stories to express this upcoming importance but also to warn of infatuations, lust, and poor behavior. Love is beautiful and this collection of stories, no matter the result for the individual characters, is about its divine mystery and how wonderful it is to experience love.

Works Cited

De France, Marie. The Lais of Marie De France. Trans. Robert W. Hanning and Joan M. Ferrante. New York: Dutton, 1978. Print.

Essay: ROUGH DRAFT The Lais

Who, if Anyone, Wears the Pants?

Love is a complicated emotion. In fact, try as they might, most people cannot give a solid definition as to what love is without falling into a stream of metaphors. The Lais by Marie de France holds twelve stories about people who experience love. However, not every story exhibits a true or healthy love. The acceptance of love is judged in this collection of stories by the interactions between the main lovers and the representation of women. To be considered an appropriate love, there are a few rules. The love must be the most important value to the lovers but cannot result in them harming those unfortunately involved or become a way to achieve a goal outside of love, the two genders must have equal standing in their relationship in terms of devotion and acting on their love, and both parties must be willing to sacrifice for love.

The story of “Guigemar” is about a man who comes across a ship that takes him to a foreign land where he falls in love with the queen who was locked up in a tower by her jealous husband. They spend over a year together before he must leave, whereupon she ties his shirt up in knots, he gives her a chastity belt, then two years later she leaves her husband by boat. She becomes hostage to a man named Meriaduc and thus Guigemar has to fight and destroy him to regain his lover. (pages 30-55) In this story, Guigemar and the queen have a true love. While she was married when they met, no malicious action was ever taken on the husband. When Meriaduc tried to prevent the love however, he met a tragic end as Marie de France, who is an active character in all her stories, points out that love is number one. While separate, Guigemar and the women remained faithful to each other through the chastity belt and the knotted shirt. Unlike her husband, Guigemar did not force the queen to live his way and so it was a mutual desire for their relationship to act out as it did. Both characters acted upon their love. Guigemar fought Meriaduc for her freedom while she actively refused other male attempts and escaped her husband for love.

Love is the driving force behind the actions in these stories, whether that love is purely physical or legitimate. In “Equitan”, the king falls in love with his seneschal’s wife because she is very beautiful. She refuses his advances until he gives her complete control in their relationship. She convinces him to kill her husband so that they can be together but their lust for each other overwhelms them so they ruin their own plan by having sex. They then die the way that they intended the seneschal to, a boiling bath. (pages 60-69) “Whoever wants to hear some sound advice can profit from this example: he who plans evil for another may have that evil rebound back on him.” (page 68, 307-310) This story illustrates that while love is considered very important, it must be a true love and there can be no intention of harm. The seneschal was described as very necessary, useful, and loyal to his king. He took care of a plethora of the affairs of the king’s possessions and so the decision to kill him was more unjustifiable than it was to begin with. The seneschal’s wife was obsessed with control and plotted against her husband after her power over the king became at risk. She also was not willing to make the appropriate sacrifice when it was revealed that the king needed a spouse. All of these observations reveal that the two lovers did not have a true love and thus deserved their end.

To show the correct course of action that the seneschal’s wife should have taken in “Equitan", the next story, “Le Fresne” is about twins who separate at birth and the one that gets abandoned is left at a church where Gurun meets and falls in love with her. They have an affair and live in Gurun’s house until he has to marry La Codre. She then dutifully acts as a servant in his household until it is revealed that she is the sister of La Codre so the marriage is annulled and Le Fresne is allowed to marry Gurun. (pages 73-87) La Fresne was willing to remain Gurun’s mistress when it was deemed that she not marriage material and did so without complaint. This example of self sacrifice shows the extent of her devotions. He gave a lot of money to the abbey that she lived at to receive “Lord’s Rights” to visit then take her home. It is even mentioned that she is the one he wanted to marry and while everyone loved her but they deemed that she was not marriageable and so he had to accept another’s hand. When the seneschal’s wife acted to preserve the power in the affair that they had, she died. When Le Fresne accepted her fate and still remained true to Gurun, she was able to get what she wanted. These stories were told in sequence so that it was easy to view them as “what not to do” and “what to do”.

What if someone found out a horrible secret about their spouse and the news was so shocking that they became so repulsed that they decided to leave their spouse? Apparently, that is not acceptable behavior for in “Bisclavret” the wife does just that to her werewolf husband by bribing a knight that loves her into stealing her husband’s manhood. However, the wolf finds the king and wins his heart so that when the traitorous wife and knight come to visit, the king banishes them and the wolf becomes man once more. (pages 92-100) The Baron’s wife did not love the knight but rather used him because she was repulsed by her husband. Furthermore, before she knew the Baron’s secret, she loved him. Because of her frivolity in love, she and all of her daughters lived their lives without noses in exile. It was found in learning the truth that her devotions towards her husband were only skin-deep so she chose the knight as a new partner because he was easy to manipulate and fully man. The Baron’s wife did not love.

Marie de France mentions in “Lanval” that love over rules laws, social etiquette, and duty. Lanval was a great knight who was lonely because he was envied. He ended up meeting a maiden who promised him extreme riches and love as long as she was his secret. However, he ended up spilling his story after Guinevere, King Arthur’s wife, tried to seduce him. King Arthur was not amused and a trial was held, the verdict being release if he had proof but banishment if not. Even though the maiden was under no obligation to help Lanval after he broke his promise, because he broke it due to his love for her, she saved him and stole him away. (pages 105-123) Lanval chose to remain faithful to his lover rather than keeping her, showing that his love for his maiden was more than just physical or beneficial to him. This sacrifice in combination with his extreme honesty during the trial justifies their love as he does not try to cheat his way out of banishment but rather remains devoted.

Families always make love complicated. In “Les Deux Amanz”, the king refuses to allow his daughter to marry so he forms a plan where his daughter can only be married off if the suitor can achieve this great physical feat of climbing Pitre while holding his daughter. Unfortunately, a count’s son falls in love with her so he decides to brave the mountain. She gathers a potion that will give him strength during the climb but he refuses so when he reaches the top, he dies. She dies shortly after from sadness. (pages 126-133) The boy was in love with the girl. This was evident in his conviction to brave the mountain to have the right to marry her. However, he was prideful and wanted to be viewed as magnificent so he chose glory over his love. Her love for him was pure. She did not want to marry only because she did not want to take the risk. When he decided to brave the mountain, she starved herself to lessen his difficulty. After he died from climbing, her sadness was so severe that she also perished. In these regards, their love was not true love because while they both loved each other, he chose pride first.

When is justifiable to murder your husband when you love someone else? Apparently, they must be the cause of the lovers’ downfall. In “Yonec” a woman is locked up by her husband so she wishes for a lover and one appears. However, she lacked moderation in summoning him so they were discovered and he died. The woman made her husband forget the ordeal and gave birth to her bastard, Yonec. When he was grown, she told him the truth of his birth as she was told to by her lover’s prophecy then promptly died. Yonec beheaded his stepfather, becoming lord. (pages 137-152) The woman loved her knight but she forgot to be careful so she caused his death. In dying, he told her how his revenge would be brought about and it happened as he promised because their love was true. Yonec was willing to avenge the death of his true father because he realized, “…the pain and the grief that they suffered for love.” (page 152, 553-554) The knight sacrificed his life for the woman and she dutifully followed his words until she was finally able to join with him once more.

What does it mean to truly love someone? In “Laustic”, a man loves his neighbors’s wife and she feels the same. They would meet at the windows of their houses to talk, give each other gifts, and admire their physique. When the husband becomes irritable due to her constant presence at the window, he kills the nightingale whom he believes is the reason for her nightly absences. When she lost her reason to visit the window, she let her love know by giving him the dead bird and he kept it with him forever. (pages 155-159) The husband was the one stopping their love from becoming anything more or allowing it to continue. However, no action is taken on the husband for being an obstacle in their love because he never directly prevented it. This proves that their love was pure and that they were both willing to sacrifice the ability to be together to continue a greater devotion. When the man kept the bird in the end, it was his way of remaining faithful to a love he could never materialize.

Love is very patient in “Milun”. In the story, a knight falls in love with the daughter of a nobel man. She gets pregnant, the child is given to her sister, the knight leaves for fame, she gets married off, and then he returns to find out that they are now neighbors. They spend twenty years sending secret messages to each other through a swan until there is a rival for the knight’s abilities in tournaments, ‘The Peerless One’. The knight goes off to fight him and discovers that he is the knight’s son. They decide to kill the woman’s husband so that they can be reunited as a family only to discover his death upon their return. (pages 162-177) The knight and the woman are both really dedicated to each other as is shown by their long term devotion. The decision to kill the husband so that they could be reunited as a family is not considered negatory in this circumstance because his death was not caused by them nor was it to be done with malice or for the purpose of ‘winning’. If the knight was malicious enough to force their love to elope then he would have used his skills and done so long ago instead of waiting until he found his son.

Just like Penelope from The Odyssey, some women cannot make up their minds regarding love. “Chaitevel” is a story about a woman who cannot decide who she loves more out of her four suitors. Because she is unwilling to make a decision, three of them die and the last becomes gravely injured during a tournament. She lost all of them because she could not choose just one. (pages 181-188) The men that were fighting for her were dedicated and sacrificed their time for her love. However, since she had all the power to choose who to have, their love was mocked unintentionally. She never made a choice or sacrificed the opportunity to have the others for just one of them and that gamble was too high for her inability to resolve this situation made it so that it had to resolve itself.

“Chevrefoil” is very similar to “Laustic” in that the main character does not get the woman because the timing and the other characters made it so. Tristam loves the king’s wife so he is banished but when she travels to attend a feast, he makes himself known to her on a hazel branch. They have a short conversation about how Tristam can win the affections of the king again but it ends with them parting ways. (pages 190-193) The love that Tristam and the queen have is bittersweet. Their love is true but their circumstances fail to allow fruition because neither of them have the opportunity to act upon that love. In this way, their love is not the most important value to either of them and this is shown more clearly when they reunited because they spent their time discussing how to win the king’s favor instead of rejoicing in their love.

As long as everyone accepts a sin made through love then it does not matter that the sin was made. This lesson was in “Eliduc” whereupon a man is slandered and thus banished so he goes on a trip to a foreign land and falls in love with a woman even though he promised his wife that he would not. The woman, Guilliadun, loves him too but she does not know that he is married. They pursue a courtly love and after a year he returns home because the king needs his services. He decides to go back and retrieve Guilliadun but on the way home she learns of his marriage and faints dead. His wife, Guideluec, learns of his lover and witnesses resurrecting weasels so she revives Guilliadun. Eliduc learns of his love’s awakening and rejoices. Guideluec sees his love for the girl and decides to join a covent as a nun so that they can be wed. After several years of marriage, Eliduc and Guilliadun join the church as well. (pages 196-229) Guilliadun and Guideluec both had true love for Eliduc. Guilliadun showed her devotion but allowed Eliduc to not act upon it during their year together. When she learned of his betrayal, she died. Guideluec sacrificed her rights to her husband when she learned of his love of another. She viewed love as such an important part of life that when she was no longer the love of her husband’s life, she let him go. Eliduc on the other hand, followed the example of “Chaitevel” a little too strongly. He spent a year trying to decide if he loved his mistress or his wife more. After he lost his mistress, he decided that he loved her more but it was too late. If it was not for the graces of his wife, he would have had a melancholy existence. However, his love for Guilliadun was indeed true even if it did take him a while to realize so their lives were happy. Also the conflicts revolving around their Christianity for engaging in this behavior was further relieved when they eventually turned away from human love to God, which in Marie de France’s opinion, resolved all conflicts.

Everyone experiences love in a different way with different people. Sometimes this love is purely physical, other times platonic. Love is not limited to circumstances, distance, or law. Marie de France emphasized the importance of all kinds of love and the roles that they contribute in society in The Lais. While there are many different ways of representing love, a healthy love, a true love, a justifiable love must be mutual, be devoid of hate, have acts of devotion, and must rise above the circumstances that it is limited in. The twelves lais written in this piece of literature show examples of loves that fail, but more importantly, of love that succeeds.

Works Cited

De France, Marie. The Lais of Marie De France. Trans. Robert W. Hanning and Joan M. Ferrante. New York: Dutton, 1978. Print.

Poetry: Ends

"Maybe there's a God above, but all I've ever learned from love was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you." Hallelujah

Maybe it's time for me stop.
Did I ever really start?
I don't know how to do this.
I never really have...
I'm just good at faking.

That's what I get for growing up a card family.
Look at this Poker Face.

I'm tired.
Of the lies.
Of the hurt.
Of the deceit.
Of the playful jabs
At who I am
What I do
The things I know.

Who'd want to deal with that?
I'm done.
It hurts too much to hear those words
And pretend that I don't care.

When every word they utter
Against me
Against my family
Against my culture
Against my principles
Against my mannerisms
Against my personality
Against my knowledge
Against my looks and appearance
Against everything that I know and stand for
Seems to ring too true
Echoes in my ears
And they don't hear the screams
Of my soul
As the laugh

They jest
And taunt
And mock me
Without limit
And don't even look my way

Glancing at each other's smiles
Failing to see
The tears in my eyes

I'm done.
I'm not made of stone.
And if I was, surely I would been dust by now
From all the abuse that they land on me.

I'm not good at making friends.
My socializing skills?
Awkward at best.
That doesn't mean I don't feel.
Or want.
Or need.
Or hurt.

I'd rather be all alone then deal with this.
This abuse that they land on me.
Purely for their entertainment.
Because there needs to be an underdog.
And apparently I resemble a bitch.
Because it's always me.

Do I have "loser" tattooed on my forehead?
I act tough so that I don't get victimized.
Yet it's not enough.
Because I still am.

So I'm done.
I can't take it.
What did I ever do to deserve such cruelty?

So this is the end.
This is my formal letter of dismissal.
No longer will we speak.
No longer will I listen to your crazy tantrums.
Or put up with all the things that you do that annoy me.
For apparently, it didn't matter what I was holding back.
For apparently, I was bad enough to begin with.

And yes, I may be overdramatizing.
Yes, I may be to blame.
Yes, I may be all those things and worse.
But I don't want to be around people
Who only see my faults.

I'm more than that.
But I can't grow
If they're blocking the sun.
So this is goodbye.

Thanks.
You really know how to make a girl cry.

Essay: Metamorphoses

Foolish as Love

It is a generally assumed belief that love is a wonderful and precious experience to go through that leads to happiness. From stories by Shakespeare to Hallmark movies to trashy love songs, the idea of love is highly valued and praised in most societies. However, Ovid has a more pessimistic view about experiencing this sensation. The tales in Metamorphoses by Ovid, translated by Charles Martin, focus on the idea of love. The stories written in Metamorphoses show the stupidity and fallacious attempts at love when love becomes the destroyer of peace and happiness for those involved. Almost every tale in this collection of stories features people and gods who in their rapture for others, act hastily and foolishly to accomplish their goals. Not only does Ovid show this flawed logic towards love but a majority of the relationships conveyed in the stories show couples that are unequal in their devotions, thus mocking their feelings.

In the story of Apollo and Daphne, Apollo falls in love with Daphne, who does not share his feelings in the slightest. “Daphne, the daughter of the river god Peneus, was the first love of Apollo; this happened not by chance, but by the cruel outrage of Cupid.” (Apollo and Daphne, I 628-631) His feelings for her were so strong that he chased after her, pleading for love. His pursuit terrified the girl. “I am stalking you because of love!” (Apollo and Daphne, I 701) In fact, she becomes so afraid of his strong devotions, that she pleads her father for a merciful ending, so her father transforms her into a tree to protect her virginity. “Loving her still, the god puts his right hand against the trunk, and even now can feel her heart as it beats under the new bark; he hugs her limbs as if they were still human, and then he puts his lips against the wood, which, even now, is adverse to his kiss.” (Apollo and Daphne, I 763-768) After she becomes a tree, Apollo still refuses to give up his love for her therefore as a tree she becomes his possession. This story is clearly mocking Apollo’s love for Daphne as his feelings are disregarded and feared. Daphne gave up her life as a human as a consequence of being loved by a god. By the end of the story, both Apollo and Daphne are damaged by love. Apollo must now face the misery of never having Daphne as his bride but rather as a tree, while Daphne was forced to lose her humanity due to Apollo’s love. This love ruined both of their lives, causing them distress and to be made objects of laughter for others.

In the story “Narcissus and Echo”, the love that Echo has is completely rejected by Narcissus. Echo is eternally punished to remain alone by the curse of the gods. Narcissus on the other hand has such high standards for what he wants due to his attractiveness that he disregards all that meet him. “[And] Echo gave her heart with her reply, ‘Come! Together!’ And leapt out of the woods, eager to give her words a little help by swiftly embracing the desired neck; he flees, and fleeing cries, ‘Hands off! No hugs! I’ll die before you’ll have your way with me!’” (Narcissus and Echo, III 499-504) Echo falls in love with Narcissus and due to his nature, he blows her off and tells her to leave him alone. His act of pushing her away crushes her spirit as she has such high feelings towards him. When he rebuked her love, it was almost as if he was judging her for her feelings and mocking her for believing that they would get her anywhere. This act of cruelty is common in Ovid’s stories, showing that when love is unequally shared between people, it can only cause pain. However, Narcissus’ tragedy did not end here. Since he was unable to love another person due to his unjustifiable high standards, he ended up falling in love with his own reflection. “How many times, in vain, he leans to kiss the pool’s deceptive surface or to plunge his arms into the water, keen to clasp the neck he glimpses but cannot embrace; and ignorant of what it is he looks at, he burns for what he sees there all the same, aroused by the illusion that deceives him.” (Narcissus, III 551-557) Narcissus took pride in his own self-worth and ego so much that eventually the only thing that he viewed as worthy of his time was his own self. This obsession lead to his demise as the prophecy said that he would live until he knew himself. The experience that Narcissus went through emotionally when he found himself was not love, but rather an inflation that ended up consuming his humanity, making a mockery out of his dignity.

In quite a few of the stories, when one loves another too strongly, it causes them to act without reason, leading those involved into terrible situations. In the story “Jove and Io”, Jupiter, also called Jove, is so overcome with lust for Io that he hunts her down and in a moment of passion, rapes her. “But run she did, through Lerna and Lyrcea, until the god concealed the land entirely beneath a dense dark mist and seized her and dishonored her.” (Jove and Io, I 829-832) Io did not want to be an object of affection for Jupiter, but she became one due to his ability to cheat in love as a god. Seeing as Jupiter is married to Juno, he then had to disguise Io as a cow to protect her from the goddess. Juno knew what had occurred and thus decided to punish Io by forcing her to remain a cow under permanent close watch. “Love surely would have triumphed over shame, except that to deny so slight a gift to one who was his wife and sister both would make it seem that this was no mere cow!” (Jove and Io, I 861-864) Thus, Io’s life was destined to conclude as a cow. Io did not want to lay with Jupiter, she did not want to be a cow. However, the desires of the gods were forced upon her and as a consequence she held no control over her own life. The love that Jupiter felt for her was all physical but his lust was strong enough that they engaged in a loveless act of love.

Not all stories in Metamorphoses show relationships between individuals who hold different amounts of love for the other. In “Pyramus and Thisbe”, the two are equal in their affections. However, this story does mock love as well. “Proximity saw to it that this couple would get acquainted; soon, they fell in love, and wedding torches would have flared for them had both their parents not forbidden it, although they weren’t able to prevent two captive hearts from burning equally.” (Pyramus and Thisbe, IV 92-97) Thisbe and Pyramus are restricted from holding their affections by the society around themselves. This limit on their devotions causes strain within their union and thus they decide to run away together so that they can love without consequence. In a strange turn of events, Thisbe’s shawl gets mauled by a lion, Pyramus assumes her death and thus offers himself up to the lions, and Thisbe returns to find his bleeding body. “You’ve lost your life by your own hand and by your love for me! In my hand too, there’s strength to do the same, and love that will give power to my stroke!” (Pyramus and Thisbe, IV 205-208) In this story, it shows a tragedy of love through miscommunication. Pyramus thinks his bride is dead and thus decides he cannot live without her, so why not die. Thisbe sees his act in action and becomes so remorseful that she commits suicide as well. Their affections towards each other are so strong that they act without reasoning first and think in ultimatums. This type of attitude expressed by the couple shows how irrational and passionated love can become.

In many relationships, one of the participants eventually becomes consumed by jealousy and feelings of inadequacy. When this occurs, tensions often arise in the relationship causing friction that leads to all sorts of problems. In the story “Juno, Jove, and Semele”, Juno teased Semele about Semele’s insecurities with Jupiter until Semele decided to prove her worth by participating in an activity, seeing Jupiter in his full glory, that she physically could not handle. “[But] she, whose mortal body could not bear such heavenly excitement, burst into flames and was incinerated by Jove’s gift. Her child was torn out of her womb unfinished, and—this part is scarcely credible—was sewn into his father’s thigh, where he was brought to term.” (Juno, Jove, and Semele, III 397-402) Because Semele did not trust the love that was shared between Jupiter and herself, she tested the limits of what was acceptable behavior in their relationship which lead to her ultimate death. Because Jupiter loved Semele, he went along with her desire even though he knew that it would kill her. With her death came their child, Bacchus, who eventually became a god. The future of her son mocks the separation between humans and gods. Semele died due to the fact that she could not see a god in his true glory, yet her son transformed himself into a god that became worshipped for wine and group frenzies.

Sometimes love occurs between people that it should not due to their constant interactions and level of intimacy. When their actions are found out, they are normally reacted to negatively. In “Mars and Venus”, Vulcan finds out about his traitorous wife and thus devises a plan to capture the lovers in the act. “He spread it craftily across the bed, and when his wife and her gallant had come together on the couch, by her husband’s art and by the chains he’d cleverly devised, the two of them were caught in the very act, clinging together in mutual embrace.” (Mars and Venus, IV 247-252) This is a just another example of forbidden love gone wrong. However, in some regards this story is actually worse. While trapped in a net exposed to the world, Vulcan had other gods come witness the scene and mock the couple, publicly exposing them to everyone, shaming them for loving another.

Rape is often the consequence of strong one-sided love in Ovid’s stories. In “The Fountain of Salmacis”, Salmacis was an abnormal naiad who liked to be fickle. She wanted to be with Hermaphroditus after finding him to be attractive but he refused her advances so she forced him upon herself when he entered a pool to bathe. “[And] though he fights her, holds him in her clutches, seizing the kisses he is loath to yield; her hands surprise him, coming from below, caressing that reluctant breast of his— although he strives to tear himself away, the nymph—now here, now there— surrounds her prey. (The Fountain of Salmacis, IV 492-497) When Salmacis tried to rape Hermaphroditus, the two become conjoined together and become a fountain because Salmacis asked the gods to join them together forever. The fountain is now known for making men more effeminate as Hermaphroditus was a man raped by a female. Like Io, his life was completely controlled by the gods and their desires. Salmacis wanted him, tried to take him, and then forced him to become and remain in a form that was not his choice due to Salmacis' desires.

Ovid views love and the actions that people take when they are in love as a joke. In his stories in Metamorphoses, every couple falls victim to their love for each other, making the result of having loved a repercussion. Daphne became a tree because of Apollo, Echo was left abandoned for a reflection, Jove forced Io to live as a cow, Pyramus and Thisbe committed suicide for each other, Jove killed Semele due to her inferiority complex, Mars and Venus were publicly shamed, and Hermaphroditus became part of a fountain due to Salmacis’ lustful desires. No story of love ended well in Ovid’s collection of tales. In fact, the love that occurred in these relationships often destroyed their chances at a normal life. Their love diluted their senses, forced them to act rashly, and act in ultimatums that caused long-term problems for those involved. This harsh outlook on the idea of love that is normally viewed so positively forces the question, What happened to Ovid during his love life to make him such a pessimist?

Works Cited

Ovid. Metamorphoses. Trans. Charles Martin. New York: W.W. Norton, 2005. Print.