By way of “Beauty’s Anadems” by John Barlas
1. A dagger-hilt crusted with flaming gems:
2. A queen's rich girdle clasped with tiger's
claws;
3. A lady's glove or a cat's velvet paws;
4. The whisper of a judge when he condemns;
5. Fierce night-shade berries purple on their
stems
6. Among the rose's healthsome scarlet haws;
7. A rainbow-sheathed snake with jagged jaws:
8. Such are queen Beauty's sovran anadems.
For she caresses with a poisoned hand,
And venom hangs about her moistened lips,
And plots of murder lurk with her eyes
She loves lewd girls dancing a saraband
The murderer stabbing till all his body
drips,
And thee, my gentle lady, and thy soft
sighs.
What
do any of these things do?
The
tiger-claw girdle: a girdle that grants the wearer some or all of a Rakshasa’s
abilities and vulnerabilities?
The
whisper of a judge: a bottle that, when opened, releases a whispered voice that
can curse or banish anyone within earshot (5’)?
The
rose’s healthsome scarlet haws: that one’s easy; they’re small red berries that
cure wounds.
Queen
Beauty’s sovereign anadem: a crown that grants a bonus to Charisma? Or
something more sinister, like the last six lines of the poem…
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| Gustave Moreau, "Salome Dancing Before Herod," 1876 |
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