LETHE

Come to my arms, cruel and sullen thing;
Indolent beast, come to my arms again,
For I would plunge my fingers in your mane
And be a long time unremembering -
And bury myself in you, and breathe your wild
perfume remorselessly for one more hour ;
And breathe again, as of a ruined flower,
The fragrance of the love you have defiled.
I long to sleep; I think that from a stark
Slumber like death I would awake the same
As I once was, and lavish without shame
Caresses upon your body, glowing and dark.
To drown my sorrow there is no abyss,
However deep, that can compare with your bed.
Forgetfulness has made its country your red
Mouth, and the flowing of Lethe is in your kiss.
My doom, henceforward, is my sole desire :
As martyrs, being demented in their zeal,
Shake with delightful spasms upon the wheel,
Implore the whip, or puff upon the fire,
So I implore you, fervently resigned !
Come; I would drink nepenthe and long rest
At the sweet points of this entrancing breast
Wherein no heart has ever been confined.

Author's Notes/Comments: 

French Poet (1821 - 1867)
Charles Baudelaire combined a rhythmical and musical perfection with a morbid romanticism and eroticism. In his most famous work he found beauty in decadence and evil, although the average reader will be surprised to discover a tendency to moralize in some of his other work.

The River Lethe flowed through the plain of Lethe in Hades. Also known as the Ameles potamos (river of unmindfulness), the river flowed around the cave of Hypnos where its murmuring induces drowsiness. The shades of the dead were required to drink from its water in order to forget their earthly life. Poets frequently use Lethe as a metaphor for the underworld in general...

Today, we call these times on the river of unmindfulness,
senior moments on a boat...
LOL!
I love Baudelaire, but these french poets could be a little pretentious or should I say nouveau-riche...

Peace
Dylan

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River Lethe in popular culture

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Lethe_in_popular_culture

somewhat apropos
when discussing addictions

Peace

Dylan


"One of the best results of life, is the torment of love"

Dylan Eliot