Arethusa - P.B.Shelley

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)

2.     Crag – a steep rough rock

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

12.  Rend -tear into pieces

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

32.  Azure – blue

 Author Introduction

      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.