“Two Sonnets of Two Celtic Myths”

(that picture of Cu Chulainn will scare the Jesus out of you…)

—

Who doesn’t like sonnets and mythology?  Many don’t.  Celtic Mythology isn’t easy to comprehend but enriching when an attempt is made. I struggled with sonnet form, but interestingly enough, it seems to change the ‘voice’ of the writer, as least it did for me.  Perhaps that’s a good thing.

Lady Nyo

PS:  Bricru the Poison Tongue….I know several. Mostly family.

–

WHEN CU CHULAINN COURTS EMER

“In that sweet country, I’ll rest my weapon”
Said Cu Chulainn to beauteous Emer
And a war spasm came upon him fast
With face distorting, hair stood upended
Teeth barred in anger, cock a rigid mast
His body whipped around, his knees unbended,
And sweet Emer prayed his luck would last.

Her father, King Lug, Celtic God of Light
Set her swain to tasks and toil unending,
While Bricru the Poison Tongue cries in fright:
“The Hound of Ulster, Irish unbending,
Leads in battle for comes he in his might!
And Emer waits with patient love the day
When Cu Chulainn comes near and claims his right!

 

IMMORTAL MARRIAGE

When Lug dragged his cock upon the earth deep
And threw up mountains and hillocks in haste
Fair Aine came behind him with sweet seeds reap’d
And fertile was the land, no virgins chaste
Followed the reapers and saw the crows fly
Up in the air with black wings flapping sound
She watered the plantings with moisture, sighed
For Lug had others of mistresses round

Fair Aine pined in sorrow, her heart laid bare
All other women Lug held with his charm
When she walked afield, the men did dare
To raise their eyes and hearts without alarm.

The children she bore now, peppered the earth,
And Lug still dragged his cock, taunting with mirth!

Jane Kohut-Bartels
Copyrighted, 2016

 

Sonnet:”Erotica Sea”….Adults Only.

(Watercolor, Jane Kohut-Bartels, 2000)

Nick Nicholson has worked hard to reissue “A Seasoning of Lust”, first published in 2009.  As with first books, there were changes that needed to be made, in format and content.  It is a mildly erotic book, reflecting the milieu of the first writer’s group I was first in.  However, I wanted to write more than erotica and left and went on.  As I became to hold, erotica was just a seasoning, not the whole dinner. Hence, the title of that first book.  In a few weeks it will be reissued on Amazon with a new cover and other surprises.  Thank you, dear Nick.  Your friendship and eagle eye has made all the difference.

Jane 

–

I’m going to include this for the d’verse challenge.  It’s my first sonnet, my first nautical painting, and from my first book: “A Seasoning of Lust”.  A lot of firsts for me but not I am sure in the expectations of d’verse readers.  LOL!

 

 Erotica Sea

–

O, give me a taste of  you and your tongue

pry open my lips with that soft muscle,

plunge in warm waters of an ocean sung

by lusting mermaids, loins in a tussle,

a clam’s foot that tastes the brine of passion

claims undersea caves of another route.

Pull my loins to yours in a riptide grip,

sound my deep warm sea, your cock a stiff mast

the weight of you pushing me downwards fast

hips gyrate in a nautilus spiral.

With your foghorn’s groan, semen’s saltiness

floods my womb like the moon’s tidal offering,

we float weightless, that sweet mystic sea sings,

bodies sway, like abandoned ship’s rigging.

–

Jane Kohut-Bartels

Copyrighted, 2008-2016

Two Sonnets: “When Cu Chulainn Courts Emer” and “Immortal Marriage”

Cu Chulainn, from Celtic Mythology

Cu Chulainn, from Celtic Mythology

A few years ago I was writing a novel called “Devil’s Revenge”. (There are three chapters from this book under this entry for those curious…) And… a passage towards the end of this too-cumbersome book where the characters descend into Celtic times and mythology. From that research I came across Cu Chulainn and other characters in this fascinating mythology. I knew a little before beginning this research but it wasn’t enough to fill a thimble. The mythology of Cu Chulainn and in fact that whole period gave rise to a lot of attempts at some form of poetry. It seemed then that the sonnet form, something I had never written before, seemed to be the ‘proper’ form to embrace this mythology. One thing I realized: I really hate sonnet form. It’s damn hard.

Note: Part of the accepted mythology is that Lug dragged his cock (which stood in for a huge club…)across the earth and made the mountains and valleys. It’s not just me being nasty….it’s in the myth. These sexual-psychological issues were important in the mythologizing. Being King, God of Light, he had to have something outrageous going for him…

Also, Cu Chulainn was known as the Hound of Ulster (another story there…)

Lady Nyo–

WHEN CU CHULAINN COURTS EMER
–

“In that sweet country, I’ll rest my weapon”

Said Cu Chulainn to beauteous Emer

And a war spasm came upon him fast

With face distorting, hair stood upended

Teeth barred in anger, cock a rigid mast

His body whipped around, his knees unbended,

And sweet Emer prayed his luck would last.

–

Her father, King Lug, Celtic God of Light

Set her swain to tasks and toil unending,

While Bricru the Poison Tongue cries in fright:

“The Hound of Ulster, Irish unbending,

Leads in battle for comes he in his might!

And Emer waits with patient love the day

When Cu Chulainn comes near and claims his right!

–

IMMORTAL MARRIAGE
–

When Lug dragged his cock upon the earth deep

And threw up mountains and hillocks in haste

Fair Aine came behind him with sweet seeds reap’d

And fertile was the land, no virgins chaste

Followed the reapers and saw the crows fly

Up in the air with black wings flapping sound

She watered the plantings with moisture, sighed

For Lug had others of mistresses round

–

Fair Aine pined in sorrow, her heart laid bare

All other women Lug held with his charm

When she walked afield, the men did dare

To raise their eyes and hearts without alarm.

The children she bore now, peppered the earth,

And Lug still dragged his cock, taunting with mirth!

–

Jane Kohut-Bartels

Copyrighted, 2009-2013

Playing with dversepoets.com “Form For All”

Oh Crap! Sam Peralta over on dversepoets.com is challenging us to write something, perhaps freeverse, sonnets, haiku, etc…but disguise it so we ‘break’ the form.

His challenge is hard enough!  I post a sonnet here, and I found that writing sonnets gave me a very different voice in poetry…one that I did not recognize in myself….and well, just was so different.

So, I want to play along, but I probably fail miserably at this game.

Lady Nyo

–

IMMORTAL MARRIAGE

–

When Lug dragged his cock upon the earth deep

And threw up mountains and hillocks in haste

Fair Aine came behind him with sweet seeds reap’d

And fertile was the land, no virgins chaste

Followed the reapers and saw the crows fly

Up in the air with black wings flapping sound.

–

She watered the plantings with moisture, sighed

For Lug had others of mistresses round.

Fair Aine pined in sorrow, her heart laid bare

All other women Lug held with his charm

When she walked afield, the men  did dare

To raise their eyes and hearts without alarm.

–

The children she bore now, peppered the earth,

And Lug still dragged his cock, taunting with mirth!

–

Jane Kohut-Bartels

Copyrighted, 2009, 2012

SONNETS……

Cu Chulainn, from huntergatherlove.com

A few years ago I started writing sonnets and found them difficult. Perhaps because they were my first attempts in writing this form, but also because I don’t like rhyming poetry.

Sonnet structure is hard, but we modern poets are also lazy.

These two sonnets are based on Celtic Mythology, something I was studying back then.  The mythology of Cu Chulainn, the “Hound of Ulster”, is full of sex and violence….themes universally pleasing to the ears of listeners.

Lady Nyo

—

WHEN CU CHULAINN COURTS EMER

—

“In that sweet country, I’ll rest my weapon”

Said Cu Chulainn to beauteous Emer

And a war spasm came upon him fast

With face distorting, hair stood upended

Teeth barred in anger, cock a rigid mast

His body whipped around, his knees unbended,

—

And sweet Emer  prayed his luck would last.

Her father, King Lug, Celtic God of Light

Set her swain to tasks and toil unending,

While Bricru the Poison Tongue cries in fright:

“The Hound of Ulster, Irish unbending,

Leads in battle for comes he in his might!

—

And Emer waits with patient love the day

When Cu Chulainn comes near and claims his right!

—

IMMORTAL MARRIAGE

–

When Lug dragged his cock upon the earth deep

And threw up mountains and hillocks in haste

Fair Aine came behind him with sweet seeds reap’d

And fertile was the land, no virgins chaste

Followed the reapers and saw the crows fly

Up in the air with black wings flapping sound.

–

She watered the plantings with moisture, sighed

For Lug had other of mistresses round

Fair Aine pined in sorrow, her heart laid bare

All other women Lug held with his charm

When she walked afield, the men  did dare

To raise their eyes and hearts without alarm.

–

The children she bore now, peppered the earth,

And Lug still dragged his cock, taunting with mirth!

—

Jane Kohut-Bartels

Copyrighted, 2009, 2010