Georgiana Burne-Jones Rebukes Her Husband, by Clint Wastling

Phyllis and Demophoon, by Edward Burne-Jones (England) 1870

Georgiana Burne-Jones Rebukes Her Husband

Ned you are beguiled by beauty,
her talent engulfs you, sucks you in.
Maria should not have anything, yet
she possesses your soul, your waking moments,
procures the passions you’ve long withheld from me.
You are part man, part fool.
You draw illusion with your brush
making her face both Phyllis and Demophoӧn.
Phyllis reaches from her blossoming almond to
forgive betrayal as no woman could.
Withdraw this calumny of art! You might as well
cut out your heart, for all can see it here.
 
Ned, Ned, retire to bed,
cure this infatuation, leave her!
Rich talented Maria will find a better man,
there’s the truth,
so draw her beauty as the witch, the deceiver:
Sponsa di Libano, Circe, Gorgon.
Think of the family you have appalled, 
By acting as Pygmalion, mocked by all.

Clint Wastling

Clint Wastling’s  poetry has been published in Blue Nib, Dream Catcher, Strix, Marble and  online with The Algebra of Owls. He’s also been published in the USA in Parody and Avocet. Clint has a pamphlet: Layers published by Maytree Press. His novel, The Geology of Desire, is an LGBTQ thriller set around Whitby in the 1980s and Hull during World War II. He also has a sci-fi novel: Tyrants Rex set 3000 years in the future, both published by Stairwell Books.