NPM: Ariadne on Naxos

For National Poetry Month, this lovely Scots verse by E M Buchanan

Ariadne on Naxos

The threid that reeled him in has brocht
me oot — oot o' the nairra mask o' thirled
weys tae the clear licht o' day.

I spied him wi' the lassies, dandlin' them
on his knee, mou-mapplin' thir breists,
like the great bairn he is.
Braw suitor for the King's dochter!

But heroes ha'e thir uses. I 'ticed him
atween cauld stane wa's, doon an' doon
tae the centre o' my black dreid.

Derkness like midden reek, beast swite
an' bluid — ae stroke o' the bricht blade,
ae skirl tae split the wa's.
The beast wis deid.

Noo I sit here on Naxos, mangst myrtle
an' hinnied thyme, an' watch
his black sail slide awa doon
the sun's track tae the warld's end.

Barefit I'll gang my ain gait.
The hairst is come. Frae maumie vines
wild music springs an' I wid learn
a new daunce.

thirled - bound by obligation, mou-mapplin' - mouth-nibbling, skirl - cry, hairst - harvest, maumie - ripe