The Anathemata
Middle-sea and Lear-sea (continued)
Wot’ld you do with the bleedin’ owners?
Wot’ld you do with the bleedin’ owners?
What would you do with ’em?
put ’em in the long boat
put ’em in the long boat
put them in the wrong boat
and let them sail her
over the seas to Dis.a
Maiden help y’r own
Maiden help y’r own
Maiden aid us.
Themis, pray.
Phoebe, Telphousa2
pray.
Agelastos Petra
cleft for us!b
Paphia remember us that are indentured to your mother.c
David Jones notes
2 These names of the three sweethearts of the matelots each connote various aspects of femaleness: the earth, the seasons, the fates, the sibylline art, the menstrual cycle, the moon, so the tides, the huntress, the mother. Telphousa in particular has affinities with Delphi and so with Petra Agelastos. Cf. note 1 to page 56 above.
additional notes
a Dis: the god of the underworld.
b cf. also the hymn: Rock of Ages, cleft for me, /Let me hide myself in Thee; /Let the water and the blood, /From Thy riven side which flowed, /Be of sin the double cure, /Cleanse me from its guilt and power.
c see DJ note 1 to next page.
comments
Have they come come all the way only to founder in the English Channel, just to increase the wealth of the owners?