View source for Lysithea's Suffering

[[Category:Bardic Merit Awards]][[Category:2005 Bardics]]
By: Greyda
Posted on: September 29, 2005


The following four sonnets I discovered upon an excursion into the wilderness,
tucked in a hollow at the base of a tree. Loose sheaves of paper for the most
part, much was illegible, and scribbled with a primitive, blood-like ink
(ironic considering the choice of a highly formal structure for the poetry
itself). What I was able to read I copied, replacing the originals where I
found them. While no author has signed these, nor are names given within the
sonnets themselves, I believe them to be the personal writings of Lysithea, one
of the seven offspring of Callisto and Sinope, the ancestors of the human race.
I present them here with annotated references to support this conclusion.

Greyda Corten.

<nowiki>=========================================================</nowiki>


An eerie sound has roused me from a slumber.<br>
My love sleeps at my side in fitful dreams, (1)<br>
Beplagued by chilling nightmares without number,<br>
Would that restlessness I could appease.<br>
My wild children lie amidst the furs, (2)<br>
Curled in eachother's arms, they breathe as one,<br>
Innocent yet fright'ning as they stir.<br>
Such tender closeness cannot be undone.<br>
I flee into the cool embrace of night,<br>
Aching for my home, for family. (3)<br>
My only comfort in the words I write:<br>
The curse I bear for steadfast loyalty.<br>
And yet I do not dare regret my choice, (4)<br>
For woe is me the day I still my voice.<br>

<nowiki>~ ~ ~</nowiki>

In this mirrored pool reflects a face,<br>
A sister or a brother I discern,<br>
With bitter accusations of disgrace<br>
And treason, though I acted from concern. (5)<br>
Or is this face my poor beloved mother?<br>
The perfect woman, how could I compete? (6)<br>
Her grace and beauty captive held my brother<br>
Though reckless in the face of love's defeat. (7)<br>
A substitute am I, for what was slain, (Cool<br>
The road I travel has been harsh and rough.<br>
But to a shred of hope I cling in vain:<br>
That even displaced passion is enough.<br>
I turn away, this visage is my own.<br>
I can no longer walk this path alone.<br>

<nowiki>~ ~ ~</nowiki>

What have I done to earn such punishment?<br>
The Gods Themselves forsake me, I'll not bear<br>
This suffering, lamentable torment,<br>
I plead Them strike me down in my dispair!<br>
My love lies dead, his throat cut in his sleep, (9)<br>
And next to him a second corpse is slain:<br>
The father to us both; and worse, I weep, (10)<br>
My progeny this second murder claim. (11)<br>
They call me traitor for the tears I shed,<br>
And throw my father's body to the beasts.<br>
Their vengeance brings them pride, and yet I dread<br>
The days to come, what horrors are unleashed.<br>
What agony, what terror more can come<br>
'Til into utter madness I succumb?<br>

<nowiki>~ ~ ~</nowiki>

For days I wandered with no sense of time,<br>
Endless, sleepless nights passed like a dream,<br>
And then, a Goddess whispered in my mind,<br>
"Too long, My child, your suffering has been."<br>
With hopeful tears I told Her my desire,<br>
The boon was difficult, but not undue.<br>
Two broken shards I hold She now requires (12)<br>
While promising to render life anew. (13)<br>
What other choice is there for me to make?<br>
My life is over with my love deceased.<br>
Blind? Perhaps, but now this chance I take,<br>
Whatever happens, may my suffering cease.<br>
A crystal warrior beckons, and I follow (14)<br>
Perhaps to meet my love upon the morrow.<br>


<nowiki>=========================================================</nowiki>


(1) "My love" - Anake, Lysithea's brother and mate.<br>
(2) "My wild children" - Rukal and Lakspura, the children of Anake and
Lysithea.<br>
(3) "Aching for my home" - Ceylon, from which Anake and Lysithea were exiles.<br>
(4) "I do not dare regret my choice" - Lysithea chose to follow Anake into
exile, rather than remain in Ceylon.<br>
(5) "I acted from concern" - Lysithea spoke out on behalf of her brother when
he was accused of treason.<br>
(6) "The perfect woman" - Sinope, the first human female and thus the most
perfect. Anake was in love with her.<br>
(7) "reckless in the face of love's defeat" - Ired by her refusal of his
advances, Anake murdered Sinope in cold blood.<br>
(Cool "A substitute am I, for what was slain" - As mentioned previously, Lysithea
later became Anake's mate.<br>
(9) "his throat cut in his sleep" - Anake was slain in his sleep by Callisto,
his father, in retribution for slaying Sinope.<br>
(10) "a second corpse is slain: / The father to us both" - Callisto.<br>
(11) "My progeny this second murder claim" - Rukal and Lakspura, after
witnessing their father's death, together broke Callisto's neck.<br>
(12) "Two broken shards I hold" - The Sceptre of Divinity was broken into seven
pieces and distributed among the seven offspring. Upon Anake's death, Lysithea
came into possesion of his.<br>
(13) "While promising to render life anew" - The Goddess Lorielan approached
Lysithea and claimed she could resurrect Anake but needed her pieces of the
Sceptre to do so.<br>
(14) "A crystal warrior beckons" - Lysithea was brought to Lorielan by one of
her Kx'Khrah subjects. This was not a happy end for Lysithea, for as it turned
out Lorielan had no intention of returning Anake to life; it was merely a trick
to get Lysithea to relinquish her pieces of the Sceptre. Lysithea was then left
stranded on the Crystal Plane.<br>