Monday, November 29, 2021

Bacchic Orgy



This is another haiku from Clark Ashton Smith (CAS) that was not published in his lifetime, and is not available on The Eldritch Dark, so here's the complete text:


Still, beneath the gibbous moon,
Bacchus-led, the maenad crew
Drank and danced and slew.


The maenads (or female followers of Bacchus/Dionysus) are a subject that CAS treated in the earlier poem "Bacchante", which I blogged about last year.  Because "Bacchante" is a portrait of CAS' friend Madelynne Greene, it has a considerably different tone from that of "Bacchic Orgy", and yet the powerful presence of the maenads can be found there as well:


Behind, before us sweep
Maenad and Bassarid in spectral rout
With many an unheard shout;
Cithaeron looms with every festal steep
Over this hill resolved to dream and doubt.


I'm not surprised that the mythical figures of the ecstatic, intoxicated maenads had a strong appeal for CAS, given his passion for the unrestricted expression of the creative impulse, not to mention his fondness for wine!  Despite their violent reputation, the unrepressed nature of the maenads has an undeniable appeal to our wilder natures.


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