Sunday, November 1, 2020

The Sorceror to his Love



Read "The Sorceror to his Love" at The Eldritch Dark:

http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/poetry/536/the-sorceror-to-his-love

This poem from Clark Ashton Smith (CAS) originally appeared in the September 1945 issue of Weird Tales magazine.

It's a simple but enchanting poem, capturing the feeling of safety and protection to be found within the arms of a lover.  It also reminds the reader of the power that can be found in imaginary names, as in these lines:


The horror that Zimimar brings
Between his vast and vampire wings


"Zimimar" is CAS' invention, but as with so many of his invented names, it's hardly random: there's an undeniable hint of the exotic and the mysterious in that name, as there is in "MaĆ¢l Dweb", "Zothique" and all the others.

3 comments:

  1. Zimimar I believe to be the demonic king of the north according to one demonology or another.

    Remember that Smith was a big fan of the occult and loved reading about all that stuff.

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  2. The only references to "Zimimar" I was able to find on the web had to do with D&D campaign settings, so I assumed the use of the name in that context had simply been purloined from CAS' poem. Interesting to know that CAS himself may have lifted it from his studies of the occult!

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  3. https://danharms.wordpress.com/2011/01/14/zimimar-and-clark-ashton-smith/

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ziminiar

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