"The Mysteries: ''Renaissance Choros''", or "The Mysteries", is a poem by American poet

H.D. Hilda Doolittle (September 10, 1886 – September 27, 1961) was an American modernist poet, novelist, and memoirist who wrote under the name H.D. throughout her life. Her career began in 1911 after she moved to London and co-founded th ...

first published in 1931, as the concluding poem of her poetry anthology ''Red Roses for Bronze''. Inspired by the

Eleusinian Mysteries The Eleusinian Mysteries () were initiations held every year for the Cult (religious practice), cult of Demeter and Persephone based at the Panhellenic Sanctuary of Eleusis in ancient Greece. They are considered the "most famous of the secret rel ...

, the poem concerns a ritual meant to resurrect

Adonis In Greek mythology, Adonis (; ) was the mortal lover of the goddesses Aphrodite and Persephone. He was considered to be the ideal of male beauty in classical antiquity. The myth goes that Adonis was gored by a wild boar during a hunting trip ...

Summary

Throughout the poem, which is "short lined and diffuse", the poet employs

repetition Repetition may refer to: *Repetition (rhetorical device), repeating a word within a short space of words *Repetition (bodybuilding), a single cycle of lifting and lowering a weight in strength training *Working title for the 1985 slasher film '' ...

, for instance in Section IV, where the term "no man" appears several times, or in Section V, where the word ''

behold Behold may refer to: * Behold (furniture polish), an American brand of furniture polish * "Behold" (song), a song by Phil Wickham and Anne Wilson * ''Behold'' (My Epic album), 2013 * ''Behold'' (Oren Ambarchi and Jim O'Rourke album), 2015 * B ...

'' is mentioned three consecutive times and twice at another point. The opening lines of "The Mysteries: ''Renaissance Choros''" allude to the approaching

world war A world war is an international War, conflict that involves most or all of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World War I ...

: "Dark / days are past / and darker days draw near; / darkness on this side, / darkness over there". A direct reference to the words of Jesus in the

Gospel of Mark The Gospel of Mark is the second of the four canonical Gospels and one of the three synoptic Gospels, synoptic Gospels. It tells of the ministry of Jesus from baptism of Jesus, his baptism by John the Baptist to his death, the Burial of Jesus, ...

( 4:39) appears further down: " Peace / be still." Jesus is called a "magician" in the second part of "The Mysteries", recalling H.D.'s earlier poem "Magician" (1933), which also refers to Christ. The rest of the poem is replete with other biblical allusions, as well as references to "pagan mystery cults". The poem ends with "an image of new life emerging from death."

Analysis

Louis Lohr Martz suggests that the use of the word "renaissance" in the title of the poem hints at a "new era of culture and a time for personal rebirth". Helen Sword describes the poem's message as "heterodox" and compares the poem with "Brot und Wein" by German poet

Friedrich Hölderlin Johann Christian Friedrich Hölderlin (, ; ; 20 March 1770 – 7 June 1843) was a Germans, German poet and philosopher. Described by Norbert von Hellingrath as "the most German of Germans", Hölderlin was a key figure of German Romanticis ...

. In arguing that the poem is about "the alliance of Christian and pagan myth", she offers that the imagery of bread and wine in the poem refer not only to the

body Body may refer to: In science * Physical body, an object in physics that represents a large amount, has mass or takes up space * Body (biology), the physical material of an organism * Body plan, the physical features shared by a group of anim ...

and

blood of Christ Blood of Christ, also known as the Most Precious Blood, in Christian theology refers to the physical blood actually shed by Jesus Christ primarily on the Cross, and the salvation which Christianity teaches was accomplished thereby, or the sacram ...

, but also that of

Demeter In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Demeter (; Attic Greek, Attic: ''Dēmḗtēr'' ; Doric Greek, Doric: ''Dāmā́tēr'') is the Twelve Olympians, Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over cro ...

and

Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ...

(Bacchus). Similarly, she likens Demeter's fertility rites to the Christian doctrine of

resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions involving the same person or deity returning to another body. The disappearance of a body is anothe ...

. Rosamond Rosenmeier claims that the poem relates to "female and maternal power" and the

Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit, otherwise known as the Holy Ghost, is a concept within the Abrahamic religions. In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is understood as the divine quality or force of God manifesting in the world, particularly in acts of prophecy, creati ...

. According to Diana Collecott, the poem focuses on "the seasonal cycle of death and rebirth." Noting that H.D. would remain "publicly silent until ''The Walls Do Not Fall'' in 1944", Gary Dean Burnett concludes that the poem marks "a small death through which the mysterious workings of another kind of life, another kind of work, could still be heard."

Legacy

Martz praised the work as "controlled and successful", while Bridget Kendall of the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

opined that out of all the works inspired by the Eleusinian Mysteries, H.D.'s poem was her favourite. ''The Mysteries Remain'' (1982) by David Sampson, which has four

movement Movement may refer to: Generic uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Movement (sign language), a hand movement when signing * Motion, commonly referred to as movement * Movement (music), a division of a larger co ...

s (The Mysteries Remain; Cycles of Seed-Time; Demeter in the Grass; and Iacchus in the Vine), is based on H.D.'s poem.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Renaissance Choros, The Mysteries 1931 poems American poems Eleusinian Mysteries