This poem was written on 3 April 2002, based on a legend concerning a pond near Shere, Surrey, UK
She was the miller’s daughter –
So pretty and demure.
In thought and action,
She was angelically pure.
She loved to espy
The reflection of the sky
Into the Silent Pool.
It was into the watery bliss
She serenely slid,
Steadfast in her footing
Into the celestial blue liquid.
She loved to bathe –
She bared herself in the enclave
Of the Silent Pool.
With carefree motions, she swam,
Her motions in the clear water
Had caught a man’s lustful eye
On the miller’s daughter.
He wanted to his power
To trample on that fragile flower
In the Silent Pool.
He guided his steed to the bank
And called to the maiden fair
For he wanted to be one with her,
Then to abandon her there.
She was in dread of him
So to the depths she did swim
Into the Silent Pool.
Her arms and legs did flay,
The dual terrors she did fear.
As her head bobbed for air,
The fresh water mixed with salt tears.
Her strength at last gave way,
In submission, her body splayed
In the Silent Pool.
At last, the cry went up
When she was no more.
On the bank a hat was found
With the emblem of the royal tormentor.
Listen close to the requiem intone
Of the mournful groan
Around the Silent Pool.
Down through the ages, women
Of various styles and titles
In mind and body
Have been belittled.
The tears of grief and regret,
With lament, are gently let
Drop into their silent pools.
Note:
‘styles’ is a nod to Agratha Christie (a famous crime
writer in the UK) who disappeared after discovering that her husband was having
an affair, the Silent Pool being trawled for her car. In the end, she was
located in Harrogate. Her first novel was ‘The Mysterious Affair at Styles.’
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