I.
Arethusa arose
From her couch of snows
In the Acroceraunian mountains,--
From cloud and from crag,
With many a jag,
Shepherding her bright fountains.
She leapt down the rocks,
With her rainbow locks
Streaming among the streams;--
Her steps paved with green
The downward ravine
Which slopes to the western gleams;
And gliding and springing
She went, ever singing,
In murmurs as soft as sleep;
The Earth seemed to love her,
And Heaven smiled above her,
As she lingered towards the deep.
II.
Then Alpheus bold,
On his glacier cold,
With his trident the mountains strook;
And opened a chasm
In the rocks—with the spasm
All Erymanthus shook.
And the black south wind
It unsealed behind
The urns of the silent snow,
And earthquake and thunder
Did rend in sunder
The bars of the springs below.
And the beard and the hair
Of the River-god were
Seen through the torrent’s sweep,
As he followed the light
Of the fleet nymph’s flight
To the brink of the Dorian deep.
III.
'Oh, save me! Oh, guide me!
And bid the deep hide me,
For he grasps me now by the hair!'
The loud Ocean heard,
To its blue depth stirred,
And divided at her prayer;
And under the water
The Earth’s
white daughter
Fled like a sunny beam;
Behind her descended
Her billows, unblended
With the brackish Dorian stream:—
Like a gloomy stain
On the emerald main
Alpheus rushed behind,--
As an eagle pursuing
A dove to its ruin
Down the streams of the cloudy wind.
IV.
Under the bowers
Where the Ocean Powers
Sit on their pearled thrones;
Through the coral woods
Of the weltering floods,
Over heaps of unvalued stones;
Through the dim beams
Which amid the streams
Weave a network of coloured light;
And under the caves,
Where the shadowy waves
Are as green as the forest’s night:--
Outspeeding the shark,
And the sword-fish dark,
Under the Ocean’s foam,
And up through the rifts
Of the mountain cliffs
They passed to their Dorian home.
V.
And now from their fountains
In Enna’s mountains,
Down one vale where the morning basks,
Like friends once parted
Grown single-hearted,
They ply their watery tasks.
At sunrise they leap
From their cradles steep
In the cave of the shelving hill;
At noontide they flow
Through the woods below
And the meadows of asphodel;
And at night they sleep
In the rocking deep
Beneath the Ortygian shore;--
Like spirits that lie
In the azure sky
When they love but live no more.
Glossary
1. Acroceraunian mountains - in Southwestern Albania(Southeast Europe)
3. Jag – sharp projection
4. Shepherding – guide/look after
5. Ravine - a narrow deep valley
6. Lingered – stayed in a place longer than usual
7. Trident – three-pronged spear
8. Strook – archaic word for stroke
9. Chasm – a deep hole
10. Spasm - tremor
11. Erymanthus – a mountain range in Peloponnese, Greece
13. Sunder – split apart
14. Torrent – violent flow of water
15. Fleet – swift
16. Flight – escape
17. Brink -edge
18. Dorian-People in Doris, central Greece
19. Billows - waves
20. Brackish – salty
21. Gloomy – dark
22. Bowers – shady place
23. Weltering – rising and falling
24. Rifts – a large crack
25. Enna’s mountains- in Sicily, Italy
26. Basks-relaxes
27. Ply – practise
28. Shelving – with layers
29. Noontide- waves at noon
30. Meadows - fields
31. Asphodel – flowers connected with underworld
Percy Bysshe Shelley, one of the major
British romantic poets, infuses his poetry with a spirit of rebellion and a
sense of liberation. His poetry is an expression of profound human emotions and the beauty of nature. They emphasise the readers to resonate with the urge to
challenge authority and power.
Myth
Myths are stories of the genesis of
the earth, the succession of divine rulers, and wars in human ages. They involve the
activities of deities, demigods, and mythological characters. Greek mythology
is a genre of ancient Greek Folklore. The narratives are propagated in an old poetic tradition.
Arethusa (/ˌærɪˈθjuːzə/) was a nymph who fled from the
river Alphieus in Arcadia (Central region in Peloponnese) beneath the sea and transformed into
a freshwater fountain on the island of Ortygia in Syracuse, Sicily.
River Alphieus
flowed down from Arcadia through Elis to the sea. Arethusa took a bath in it.
Alpheus, the River God had a passionate desire for the beautiful nymph. After
realising his tricks in the water, she fled away. She wanted to be the chaste
attendant of Artemis, the Goddess of wild animals, the hunt, childbirth, and
chastity. Alpheus chased her persistently. So, Arethusa sought the help of
Artemis for protection. Artemis hid her in a swirl of thick clouds and
transformed her into a freshwater spring allowing her to travel under the sea
to the island of Ortygia in Syracuse, Italy. Alpheus flowed through the water
and chased her to mingle with her waters. There is an old story, still told in
Sicily today – a wooden cup tossed into the river Alpheius will reappear in the
Fountain of Arethusa in Syracuse.
Summary of
the Poem
Shelley has retold the myth of Arethusa
and Alpheus. He uses the mythological figure of Arethusa
to symbolize the Ionian spirit of ancient Greek culture centered in
Athens. Contrasting to that is the war-like, Dorian spirit of ancient Greece,
symbolized by the vicious river god Alpheus and centered in Sparta and the Peloponnese. The
poem “Arethusa” is about the transformation of the nymph Arethusa into a spring
and her journey to the sea.
The poem opens with Arethusa playing
by the sea in Western Greece's Peloponnese. the poet vividly describes Arethusa's
emergence from her snowy abode in the Acroceraunian mountains, her journey down
the rocks with rainbow locks, and the beauty that surrounds her as she moves
toward the deep.
“Arethusa
arose
From her
couch of snows
In the
Acroceraunian mountains,—
…
She leapt
down the rocks,
With her
rainbow locks
Streaming
among the streams;”
Shelley's use of imagery and
nature reflects the close resemblance between Arethusa, a free-spirited woman, and the free-flowing stream.
Next, the focus shifts to Alpheus who
is described as bold, wielding his trident to strike the mountains and create a
chasm in the rocks. It causes the Erymanthus mountains to shake. The unsealing
of the south wind, the release of the silent snow from the urns, and the
subsequent earthquake and thunder that break the barriers of the springs below.
The River-god's presence is felt as his beard and hair are seen through the
torrent, following the nymph Arethusa's flight toward the Dorian deep. Stanza
II vividly depicts the natural upheaval caused by Alpheus's powerful movements.
Then
Alpheus bold,
On his
glacier cold,
With his
trident the mountains strook;
…
As he followed
the light
Of the
fleet nymph’s flight
To the
brink of the Dorian deep
It unfolds the dynamic
interaction between the supremacy of the gods and the forces of nature.
The nymph Arethusa, having called for
help, pleads for salvation and guidance as Alpheus, the river god, pursues her.
She begs to be hidden in the deep and expresses the urgency of her situation,
feeling the grasp of Alpheus on her hair.
‘Oh, save me! Oh, guide me!
And bid the deep hide me,
For he grasps me now by the hair
The natural
elements respond to Arethusa's plea. The loud Ocean hears her cry, and in
response, it stirs to its blue depth and divides, creating a path for Arethusa
to escape. The Earth's white daughter, representing Arethusa, flees like a
sunny beam, and the billows of the ocean follow, unblended with the brackish
Dorian stream. Arethusa's escape is facilitated by the cooperation of the
elements with the ocean opening a way for her to elude Alpheus.
Alpheus rushed
behind,—
As an eagle pursuing
A dove to its ruin
The pursuit
is likened to an eagle chasing a dove, emphasizing the intensity and swiftness
of the chase down the streams.
Arethusa moves under the bowers where the
Ocean Powers sit on pearlèd thrones, creating an image of an underwater realm
governed by powerful beings. She traverses through coral woods in violent
floods, passing over heaps of unvalued stones, creating a picture of the varied
and intricate underwater landscape. She also crosses dim
beams, steams, caves, and waves at night. Arethusa, in her escape,
outspeeds formidable creatures like the shark and the swordfish, highlighting
the urgency and swiftness of her journey. Arethusa passes under the
Ocean’s foam and through the rifts of mountain cliffs to reach her Dorian home.
This emphasizes the depth and breadth of her journey, transcending various
underwater landscapes.
The last Stanza captures a moment of
tranquil unity between Arethusa and Alpheus, as they flow together through
their watery tasks and reach their destination. The two streams have embraced
their destiny and flow together with a single purpose. The two spirits emerge
at sunrise, their journey through the woods and meadows at noon, and their
nightly sleep in rocking deep beneath the Ortygian shore like the spirits
resting in the sky after their life has ended. The imagery of nature and the
cyclical journey of the sun suggest a harmonious relationship with the natural
world.
Shelley's use of vivid language and
mythological elements adds to the poetic and dramatic nature of the narrative.
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