Rodin in Rime

SYRINX AND PAN YRINX is caught upon the Arcadian field. The god’s grip huddles her girl breasts: his grim And gnarléd lips grin forth the soul of him.- The imprint of his bestial heart is sealed And stamped armorial on her virgin shield, Fame’s argent heraldry despoiled. Grows dim For her the universe: supple and slim She slides in vain. She loathes him—and doth yield. Shame, sorrow, these be sire and dam of song. Fatality, O Nature, is thy name. Along the accurséd river, stagnant shame, Eddying woe, from rape and godly wrong, Springs the immortal reed: the mortal’s cry Rises, an angry anthem, to the sky. _ 52