Thursday, December 16, 2021

Only to One Returned




Read "Only to One Returned" at The Eldritch Dark:


This poem from Clark Ashton Smith (CAS) draws on the myth of Odysseus, and particularly his return to Ithaca at the end of his legendary wanderings.  And yet it is built only on the broad idea of that particular piece of cultural history, and incorporates suggestions of wonder and wizardry from the fables of many lands.  

In the end, the poem suggests, the sweetest rewards are to be found in turning away from grand adventures and embracing the comforts of the known, where "Love finds again some fleshly citadel, / Safe-walled, with many a pleasance sweet to him."

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