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Pan of Nether-Land
*** Pan of Nether-Land ***
A Dark Tragedy in Ten Parts
Prologue: What Gods Become
Of old, the ancients said of Pan, that he was a mighty god of the fields,
Beloved of shepherds: whose pipes sounded to warn of wolves at night.
Yet where do gods go when their worship fades, and their power yields,
Perhaps to some netherworld, beyond life and death: far, from the light.
Part One: Gathering the Lost
A darker tale, 'twas never told, than this tale of endless childhood days,
Which had its’ beginning on a bleak and rainy day in London long ago.
A colder wind, had never blown, than on that eve bereft of moonlit rays,
So black the night, when chill as any winter a northerly wind did blow.
Carried on that wind, a shadowy elfin form descended unto the old city,
Blown to seven windows of seven homes, in which seven children slept.
He looked upon them as they lay in dreams, their faces pale and pretty,
Belying the gravity of their sickness and trouble, as death swiftly crept.
Those children so long ill with fever, brought on by this or that reason,
Were each near death, that night, when Pan blew hard upon his pipes...
And roused their spirits, mercifully, from the torment of fleshly treason,
Calling each boy and girl to the window, to fly with him to far delights.
And soon their happy thoughts liberated them from their passing lives,
Causing them to soar beyond the moon and stars, to where he led them.
Seven mothers that night, wept for their children; seven weeping wives,
Whose sorrow ran deep as a river, the root of which from loss did stem.
Part Two: Eternally at Play
Beyond the moon and stars, and far past the veil between life and death,
Seven children were guided to an isle, in the midst of a shimmering sea.
Wreathed in mists, that cloaked the shores with a gray and wispy breath,
Seven children breathed again, and delighted in each other's company...
Whilst the fey and darksome spirit that led them took on a brighter form,
The old lord of that realm became like unto a child himself in their eyes.
Whilst his underworld became as their heaven, so every ethereal storm,
Brought with it an altered perception that was most difficult to disguise.
Whatever they willed became reality, like an old game of make-believe,
Given the power to be manifest, through Pan's will and childish dreams.
And so they played long, in the woods of that isle, amidst falling leaves,
Needing neither rest nor nourishment, they danced beneath moonbeams.
Every child a darling, to he who led them in play so endless and eternal,
And every hour was magical as Pan began to forget his own grim past...
That shepherd of the dead, a ruler of a nether-land some saw as infernal,
Whilst so enraptured he hoped that each golden hour would always last.
Part Three: The Grim Captain
From the seas around the nether-land isle, a creak of timbers was heard,
Whilst tattered sails fluttered: in the breezes born by a murder of crows.
The ghost ship sailed silently through slimy waters without ever a word,
Crewed by corpses, captained by a pale man with black hair and brows.
A grim gentleman, with a scythe-like hook in place of a lost right hand,
Who came to take those children who were bad: to a far darker domain.
Although Pan would contend that no bad children could live in his land,
The Grim Captain's duty was to challenge this regardless of every pain.
He hoped to avoid the Kraken who had consumed his hand long before,
When Pan cut it off in a duel, feeding the beast the captain's heart, also.
Its’ thumping would sound, whenever the sea monster neared the shore,
The thump-thump, thump-thump, caused the captain ever constant woe.
He heard Pan's pipes, echoing through the gray woods on the dark isle,
The captain felt each note, like a stab, through the scar across his chest.
He prepared himself, to follow that sound, though it might take a while,
Vowing that, until he had avenged himself his injury, he dared not rest!
Part Four: Death at the Lagoon
No sooner had the Grim Captain's booted foot hit the sand of the beach,
Than Pan heard the thumping of the Kraken, not far behind his nemesis.
He told the children to follow him, someplace out of the captain's reach,
Leading them, deep into underground catacombs, near an endless abyss.
This underground home where once Pan held court in a dismal kingdom,
Lay forgotten, and remained still the perfect place to hide innocent souls.
And so, Pan went forth from there, to make certain his rival was undone,
Following the thump of the captain's heart, like a clock that loudly tolls.
It was then he discovered the undead pirates at the Deep Ones' lagoon...
They were locked in combat with green and scaly creatures of that place.
Mermen and mermaids, some froglike or fishlike as beneath the moon...
They met the pirates' swords and fell before the dead men with no grace.
Escaping the Kraken, which erupted from the waves, tentacles lashing...
The Grim Captain ran to meet Pan's waiting challenge with much haste.
Whilst his crew sent the beast back to the sea with much dire gnashing...
Pan took a sword from a fallen pirate and charged with no time to waste.
Part Five: Pirates and Indians
And then it was that the ancestral spirits of Indians who lingered nearby,
Perhaps on some nomadic way to their distant happy hunting grounds...
Charged forth from the trees along the beach, bellowing a fierce war cry!
Led by the warrior princess Tiger Lily, they made their fearful sounds...
And fell upon the pirates, to protect Pan and honor their oath to his cause,
Of protecting innocent souls from the cruel Grim Captain's greedy grasp.
Soon Tiger Lily was captured and the pirates retreated without any pause,
And the shaman of her tribe, begged Pan to save her, his voice but a rasp.
It was then Pan noticed the children had emerged from the hidden caves,
Each boy and girl so picking up discarded arms from the fallen all about,
They bravely pledged to help Pan in his quest, even if across the waves!
He accepted their offer of aid and chose a leader for them with no doubt,
Picking the girl named Wendy for the role, since he had loved her most,
He led them to the most likely place where the pirates would have gone.
And so, to Skull Rock: where the River Styx meets the sea, like a ghost,
Snaking its’ wispy way, they followed it into a cavern as white as bone.
Part Six: Of Fairies and Fates
The cavern was alive with wispy lights, as fairies flew about in the dark,
Illuminating the ivory-colored walls a pale and ethereal green in color...
Upon a rock Tiger Lily was tied to a natural pillar of limestone and bark.
Countless fairies tried to free the princess, where tree roots lay about her,
Whilst the Grim Captain swatted them like insects, cursing them harshly.
The Fairy Queen, Belle, directed them to keep to their task nonetheless!
Pan and his children, led by Wendy, advanced to save the captive lady...
But Belle struck the captain, causing him to float and creating this mess:
Whereby he picked up Wendy and carried her off to his forsaken vessel,
Setting sail immediately for the darkest corner of the land he could find.
Blaming himself for putting poor Wendy in this peril, Pan sulked in this hell,
Letting the water flood over his undying form, he stared as one so blind.
Belle tried to comfort him, but noticed that in the water lay a green fluid,
And recognizing it as poison, she teleported the children off with a wink:
Back to the Indians with the rescued princess, whilst Belle grew so livid,
That her desperation made her bolder: her eyes darted up without a blink.
Part Seven: To Settle the Score
Belle grew as large as a grown woman and kissed Pan to drain his poison,
This dire kiss causing him to recover once more: whilst she dwindled cold.
In that instant, Pan recovered all of his ancient cunning, wits, and reason...
He picked up Belle with surprising strength and flew away, fast and bold.
Taking her to the hidden hollow, where the power of her kind was brilliant,
Pan called forth in a commanding voice for all those who believe in magic.
He called for them to grant him the power to save Belle from the sad event,
And just when he thought he might join her in oblivion, passing as tragic...
She stirred, and found her power again, growing small before Pan's gaze.
He vowed to pay the Grim Captain a deadly due for causing so much hurt!
Calling him silly for his concern, she shooed him off upon his errant ways,
Belle's sacrifice remaining long in Pan's heart, stronger than his leafy shirt.
No sooner had Pan left upon the air, in pursuit of the ghostly Jolly Roger...
Than back amongst the Indians the children decided to rescue poor Wendy.
The Indians led them to the sparrow-folk, who offered to fly them there...
To the Grim Captain's ship: where they would find the girl and set her free!
Part Eight: A Duel to the Death
Wendy had been charged with telling stories to the captain's ghastly crew,
Reminding them of their living lives, and all that they should have done...
Whilst Pan arrived at long last, sword in hand, to give the captain his due,
His aspect dark and terrible, with his free hand he played his pipes for fun.
The elfin shadow known as Pan: descended upon the deck of the old ship,
Where the Grim Captain sprang forward, cutlass and scythe at the ready!
Their blades clashed, and soon the captain felt as if he may lose his grip,
Swinging his scythe-like hook wildly at Pan, he fought more desperately.
It was then, he decided to show Pan something only he had thus beheld...
Back in the living world, Wendy's body was recovering, not yet perished.
The captain shared his vision of this with Pan, and then, Pan at last felt...
Despair: for he knew Wendy must soon leave; her company, he cherished.
Pan sank to the floor of the deck, unable to stand, as the captain lunged...
Only to be driven back by the sound of flapping wings and flying stones!
The children, born aloft by the sparrow-folk, made ready to thus plunge...
Downward, towards the site of the duel: Pan felt them, in his very bones.
Part Nine: A Childhood's End
Their laughter, their bravery, gave Pan the courage to stand upon his feet!
Wendy then threw to him a thimble she always kept, thus calling it a kiss.
She knew she must leave soon, but a part of her would remain here sweet,
And that sweetness so gave Pan the strength to overcome, filled with bliss.
He parried the captain's blows and let out a blast on his pipes so loudly...
That the Kraken awoke from slumber so thumping its’ way steadily closer.
Seeing the huge beast bite into the Jolly Roger hungrily, almost proudly...
The captain screamed, and begged Pan to spare him, before it was all over.
But Pan pushed the grim man overboard, into the monster's waiting jaws,
Which closed upon the captain, putting a final end to his thumping heart.
The doomed ship and crew all sank before the Kraken's thrashing claws,
Whilst Pan flew, with the children and the sparrow-folk, with utmost art,
To the highest mountain in the land: where Wendy was to go homeward.
Pan held the thimble in his fingers, and wept as he flew her back to earth,
To the window of her house: where her soulless form uttered not a word.
She kissed him for real, before returning to her body, for all it was worth.
Part Ten: Three Brides for Pan
Her mother would not weep long and doctors called her recovery miracle,
But in her heart, Wendy knew that her time beyond life had saved her true.
Perhaps being beyond life for a time, kept death from claiming her in full,
And the battle fought against the Grim Captain meant more than she knew.
Of all the children who fell ill that night, Wendy alone survived her fever,
And as the years passed she grew up and had children of her own to attend.
Her life was pleasant, but sometimes melancholy, as every other odd year,
She would find herself missing Pan dearly, her most strange, elfin friend.
Every so often, she would go to the window, opening it, staring at night...
Catching but a glimpse of an elfin shadow: perched upon a lonely rooftop.
In her heart, she knew it was he, and knowing that made her feel all right,
He would wait for her, watching over her and her children, without stop...
One night, not unlike the night she almost passed away, her daughter Jane,
Also sick with a similar fever, died in her sleep, her soul taken off by Pan.
Wendy's eventual granddaughter, Margaret, would meet the identical fate,
Until at last: Wendy took her own life and thus went back to Nether-Land.
Epilogue: The Legend Lives On
Wendy's house came to be purchased, following her passing on, by others,
Who claimed that once every several years: upon certain bleak evenings...
The ghosts of Wendy, Jane, and Margaret may appear to worried mothers,
Dancing hand in hand with some elfin shadow, whilst panpipe music rings.
A Dark Tragedy in Ten Parts
Prologue: What Gods Become
Of old, the ancients said of Pan, that he was a mighty god of the fields,
Beloved of shepherds: whose pipes sounded to warn of wolves at night.
Yet where do gods go when their worship fades, and their power yields,
Perhaps to some netherworld, beyond life and death: far, from the light.
Part One: Gathering the Lost
A darker tale, 'twas never told, than this tale of endless childhood days,
Which had its’ beginning on a bleak and rainy day in London long ago.
A colder wind, had never blown, than on that eve bereft of moonlit rays,
So black the night, when chill as any winter a northerly wind did blow.
Carried on that wind, a shadowy elfin form descended unto the old city,
Blown to seven windows of seven homes, in which seven children slept.
He looked upon them as they lay in dreams, their faces pale and pretty,
Belying the gravity of their sickness and trouble, as death swiftly crept.
Those children so long ill with fever, brought on by this or that reason,
Were each near death, that night, when Pan blew hard upon his pipes...
And roused their spirits, mercifully, from the torment of fleshly treason,
Calling each boy and girl to the window, to fly with him to far delights.
And soon their happy thoughts liberated them from their passing lives,
Causing them to soar beyond the moon and stars, to where he led them.
Seven mothers that night, wept for their children; seven weeping wives,
Whose sorrow ran deep as a river, the root of which from loss did stem.
Part Two: Eternally at Play
Beyond the moon and stars, and far past the veil between life and death,
Seven children were guided to an isle, in the midst of a shimmering sea.
Wreathed in mists, that cloaked the shores with a gray and wispy breath,
Seven children breathed again, and delighted in each other's company...
Whilst the fey and darksome spirit that led them took on a brighter form,
The old lord of that realm became like unto a child himself in their eyes.
Whilst his underworld became as their heaven, so every ethereal storm,
Brought with it an altered perception that was most difficult to disguise.
Whatever they willed became reality, like an old game of make-believe,
Given the power to be manifest, through Pan's will and childish dreams.
And so they played long, in the woods of that isle, amidst falling leaves,
Needing neither rest nor nourishment, they danced beneath moonbeams.
Every child a darling, to he who led them in play so endless and eternal,
And every hour was magical as Pan began to forget his own grim past...
That shepherd of the dead, a ruler of a nether-land some saw as infernal,
Whilst so enraptured he hoped that each golden hour would always last.
Part Three: The Grim Captain
From the seas around the nether-land isle, a creak of timbers was heard,
Whilst tattered sails fluttered: in the breezes born by a murder of crows.
The ghost ship sailed silently through slimy waters without ever a word,
Crewed by corpses, captained by a pale man with black hair and brows.
A grim gentleman, with a scythe-like hook in place of a lost right hand,
Who came to take those children who were bad: to a far darker domain.
Although Pan would contend that no bad children could live in his land,
The Grim Captain's duty was to challenge this regardless of every pain.
He hoped to avoid the Kraken who had consumed his hand long before,
When Pan cut it off in a duel, feeding the beast the captain's heart, also.
Its’ thumping would sound, whenever the sea monster neared the shore,
The thump-thump, thump-thump, caused the captain ever constant woe.
He heard Pan's pipes, echoing through the gray woods on the dark isle,
The captain felt each note, like a stab, through the scar across his chest.
He prepared himself, to follow that sound, though it might take a while,
Vowing that, until he had avenged himself his injury, he dared not rest!
Part Four: Death at the Lagoon
No sooner had the Grim Captain's booted foot hit the sand of the beach,
Than Pan heard the thumping of the Kraken, not far behind his nemesis.
He told the children to follow him, someplace out of the captain's reach,
Leading them, deep into underground catacombs, near an endless abyss.
This underground home where once Pan held court in a dismal kingdom,
Lay forgotten, and remained still the perfect place to hide innocent souls.
And so, Pan went forth from there, to make certain his rival was undone,
Following the thump of the captain's heart, like a clock that loudly tolls.
It was then he discovered the undead pirates at the Deep Ones' lagoon...
They were locked in combat with green and scaly creatures of that place.
Mermen and mermaids, some froglike or fishlike as beneath the moon...
They met the pirates' swords and fell before the dead men with no grace.
Escaping the Kraken, which erupted from the waves, tentacles lashing...
The Grim Captain ran to meet Pan's waiting challenge with much haste.
Whilst his crew sent the beast back to the sea with much dire gnashing...
Pan took a sword from a fallen pirate and charged with no time to waste.
Part Five: Pirates and Indians
And then it was that the ancestral spirits of Indians who lingered nearby,
Perhaps on some nomadic way to their distant happy hunting grounds...
Charged forth from the trees along the beach, bellowing a fierce war cry!
Led by the warrior princess Tiger Lily, they made their fearful sounds...
And fell upon the pirates, to protect Pan and honor their oath to his cause,
Of protecting innocent souls from the cruel Grim Captain's greedy grasp.
Soon Tiger Lily was captured and the pirates retreated without any pause,
And the shaman of her tribe, begged Pan to save her, his voice but a rasp.
It was then Pan noticed the children had emerged from the hidden caves,
Each boy and girl so picking up discarded arms from the fallen all about,
They bravely pledged to help Pan in his quest, even if across the waves!
He accepted their offer of aid and chose a leader for them with no doubt,
Picking the girl named Wendy for the role, since he had loved her most,
He led them to the most likely place where the pirates would have gone.
And so, to Skull Rock: where the River Styx meets the sea, like a ghost,
Snaking its’ wispy way, they followed it into a cavern as white as bone.
Part Six: Of Fairies and Fates
The cavern was alive with wispy lights, as fairies flew about in the dark,
Illuminating the ivory-colored walls a pale and ethereal green in color...
Upon a rock Tiger Lily was tied to a natural pillar of limestone and bark.
Countless fairies tried to free the princess, where tree roots lay about her,
Whilst the Grim Captain swatted them like insects, cursing them harshly.
The Fairy Queen, Belle, directed them to keep to their task nonetheless!
Pan and his children, led by Wendy, advanced to save the captive lady...
But Belle struck the captain, causing him to float and creating this mess:
Whereby he picked up Wendy and carried her off to his forsaken vessel,
Setting sail immediately for the darkest corner of the land he could find.
Blaming himself for putting poor Wendy in this peril, Pan sulked in this hell,
Letting the water flood over his undying form, he stared as one so blind.
Belle tried to comfort him, but noticed that in the water lay a green fluid,
And recognizing it as poison, she teleported the children off with a wink:
Back to the Indians with the rescued princess, whilst Belle grew so livid,
That her desperation made her bolder: her eyes darted up without a blink.
Part Seven: To Settle the Score
Belle grew as large as a grown woman and kissed Pan to drain his poison,
This dire kiss causing him to recover once more: whilst she dwindled cold.
In that instant, Pan recovered all of his ancient cunning, wits, and reason...
He picked up Belle with surprising strength and flew away, fast and bold.
Taking her to the hidden hollow, where the power of her kind was brilliant,
Pan called forth in a commanding voice for all those who believe in magic.
He called for them to grant him the power to save Belle from the sad event,
And just when he thought he might join her in oblivion, passing as tragic...
She stirred, and found her power again, growing small before Pan's gaze.
He vowed to pay the Grim Captain a deadly due for causing so much hurt!
Calling him silly for his concern, she shooed him off upon his errant ways,
Belle's sacrifice remaining long in Pan's heart, stronger than his leafy shirt.
No sooner had Pan left upon the air, in pursuit of the ghostly Jolly Roger...
Than back amongst the Indians the children decided to rescue poor Wendy.
The Indians led them to the sparrow-folk, who offered to fly them there...
To the Grim Captain's ship: where they would find the girl and set her free!
Part Eight: A Duel to the Death
Wendy had been charged with telling stories to the captain's ghastly crew,
Reminding them of their living lives, and all that they should have done...
Whilst Pan arrived at long last, sword in hand, to give the captain his due,
His aspect dark and terrible, with his free hand he played his pipes for fun.
The elfin shadow known as Pan: descended upon the deck of the old ship,
Where the Grim Captain sprang forward, cutlass and scythe at the ready!
Their blades clashed, and soon the captain felt as if he may lose his grip,
Swinging his scythe-like hook wildly at Pan, he fought more desperately.
It was then, he decided to show Pan something only he had thus beheld...
Back in the living world, Wendy's body was recovering, not yet perished.
The captain shared his vision of this with Pan, and then, Pan at last felt...
Despair: for he knew Wendy must soon leave; her company, he cherished.
Pan sank to the floor of the deck, unable to stand, as the captain lunged...
Only to be driven back by the sound of flapping wings and flying stones!
The children, born aloft by the sparrow-folk, made ready to thus plunge...
Downward, towards the site of the duel: Pan felt them, in his very bones.
Part Nine: A Childhood's End
Their laughter, their bravery, gave Pan the courage to stand upon his feet!
Wendy then threw to him a thimble she always kept, thus calling it a kiss.
She knew she must leave soon, but a part of her would remain here sweet,
And that sweetness so gave Pan the strength to overcome, filled with bliss.
He parried the captain's blows and let out a blast on his pipes so loudly...
That the Kraken awoke from slumber so thumping its’ way steadily closer.
Seeing the huge beast bite into the Jolly Roger hungrily, almost proudly...
The captain screamed, and begged Pan to spare him, before it was all over.
But Pan pushed the grim man overboard, into the monster's waiting jaws,
Which closed upon the captain, putting a final end to his thumping heart.
The doomed ship and crew all sank before the Kraken's thrashing claws,
Whilst Pan flew, with the children and the sparrow-folk, with utmost art,
To the highest mountain in the land: where Wendy was to go homeward.
Pan held the thimble in his fingers, and wept as he flew her back to earth,
To the window of her house: where her soulless form uttered not a word.
She kissed him for real, before returning to her body, for all it was worth.
Part Ten: Three Brides for Pan
Her mother would not weep long and doctors called her recovery miracle,
But in her heart, Wendy knew that her time beyond life had saved her true.
Perhaps being beyond life for a time, kept death from claiming her in full,
And the battle fought against the Grim Captain meant more than she knew.
Of all the children who fell ill that night, Wendy alone survived her fever,
And as the years passed she grew up and had children of her own to attend.
Her life was pleasant, but sometimes melancholy, as every other odd year,
She would find herself missing Pan dearly, her most strange, elfin friend.
Every so often, she would go to the window, opening it, staring at night...
Catching but a glimpse of an elfin shadow: perched upon a lonely rooftop.
In her heart, she knew it was he, and knowing that made her feel all right,
He would wait for her, watching over her and her children, without stop...
One night, not unlike the night she almost passed away, her daughter Jane,
Also sick with a similar fever, died in her sleep, her soul taken off by Pan.
Wendy's eventual granddaughter, Margaret, would meet the identical fate,
Until at last: Wendy took her own life and thus went back to Nether-Land.
Epilogue: The Legend Lives On
Wendy's house came to be purchased, following her passing on, by others,
Who claimed that once every several years: upon certain bleak evenings...
The ghosts of Wendy, Jane, and Margaret may appear to worried mothers,
Dancing hand in hand with some elfin shadow, whilst panpipe music rings.
Published 29th Sep 2011
All writing remains the property of the author. Don't use it for any purpose without their permission.
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