A series of twenty-one short poems each beginning with the line 'Prometheus On His Crag'. There are some affinities with Orghast (1971) which drew on [Aeschylus] Prometheus Bound. Some of the hyphenated compounds in Prometneus On His Crag may be assimilated from [Aeschylus] perhaps in the poetics of Gerard Manley Hopkins (e.g. p. 287 no. 5, 'Writhed maelstrom-molten back / Into the heart's jar'). CP pronts the Moortown (1979) text and sequence. Three omitted poems are reprinted in the Notes.
1 'His voice felt out the way. "I am" he said'
2 'Prometheus ...Relaxes'
3 'Prometheus ...Pestered by birds roosting and defecating'
4 'Prometheus...Spotted the vulture coming out of the sun'
5 'Prometheus ...Dreamed he had burst the sun's mass'
6 'Prometheus ...Has bitten his prophetic tongue off'
7 'Prometheus ...Arrested half-way from heaven'
8 'Prometheus ...Lay astonished all his preparations'
9 'Now I know I never shall'
10 'Prometheus ...Began to admire the vulture'
11 'Prometheus ...Tried to recall his night's dream'
12 'Prometheus ...Had begun to sing'
13 'Prometheus ...Heard the cry of the wombs'
14 'Prometheus ... Sees the wind'
15 'Prometheus ... Had such an advantageous prospect'
16 'Prometheus ... Too far from his people to tell them'
17 'No God - only wind an the flower'
18 'The character neglected in this icon'
19 'Prometheus ... Shouts and his words'
20 'Prometheus ... Pondered the vulture. Was this bird'
21 'His mother covers her eyes'
[ Alternative Poems in Notes: ]
5 'Prometheus ... Knew what was coming'
12 'Prometheus ... Came to see Io fleeting
17 'Prometheus ... Was himself the fire' |
Classical Receptions in Drama and Poetry in English