deepundergroundpoetry.com
ODE TO WOMAN IN 'LILITH' PAINTING
(Based on the woman modelling Lilith in the painting by John Collier (1892)
Long auburn-haired woman, in just her bare skin,
A dark snake coiled around her - a symbol of sin?
Or, more specific, personification
Of what to man is sexual temptation?
Her face an expression of calm abandon,
At ease in a body without clothes on,
Appearing to dance to a sensuous tune
As her skin seems to reflect a nocturnal moon.
Yes, it's hard for a man to avert his eyes
From her bodily charms, her breasts and her thighs,
The way that her smooth limbs and curves so writhe
To the skin of the snake, she looks so alive.
Her figure is a picture of perfection,
A front-runner for sexual selection
By the kind of male of the human species
Who heeds head less than his hormones and pieces.
When she was painted, women were corseted,
To their feet crinolined, and petticoated.
Of such constraining fashions she is set free
To revel in all her created glory.
Or was the artist predicting time ahead
When women would be better educated,
Empowered to take charge of their own healths
And against world's evils stand up for themselves?
Long auburn-haired woman, in just her bare skin,
A dark snake coiled around her - a symbol of sin?
Or, more specific, personification
Of what to man is sexual temptation?
Her face an expression of calm abandon,
At ease in a body without clothes on,
Appearing to dance to a sensuous tune
As her skin seems to reflect a nocturnal moon.
Yes, it's hard for a man to avert his eyes
From her bodily charms, her breasts and her thighs,
The way that her smooth limbs and curves so writhe
To the skin of the snake, she looks so alive.
Her figure is a picture of perfection,
A front-runner for sexual selection
By the kind of male of the human species
Who heeds head less than his hormones and pieces.
When she was painted, women were corseted,
To their feet crinolined, and petticoated.
Of such constraining fashions she is set free
To revel in all her created glory.
Or was the artist predicting time ahead
When women would be better educated,
Empowered to take charge of their own healths
And against world's evils stand up for themselves?
Published 2nd Jan 2018
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3rd Jan 2018 8:41pm
Apparently, Lilith was a naughty girl, just as Jezebal was. Typical, she - devils ! 😂😜
I think it’s awesome how you’ve used the imagery as your muse to create this masterpiece ~ 🦋😎🌹🌞🎈
I think it’s awesome how you’ve used the imagery as your muse to create this masterpiece ~ 🦋😎🌹🌞🎈
3rd Jan 2018 10:01pm
This is a pondering of what this could symbolise - open to different interpretations, erotic or otherwise. On the face of it, considering the fashions of the times, it might have been simply to give the man who acquired it some sexy escapism. The lightheartedness and free spiritedness of the woman is inescapably obvious.
