A Tanka - Tale of Ikaros
Prologue: Thoughts of a soul in love
My beloved—not mine.
You belong to another
And to the Other;
You’re God’s friend, and mine as well;
Would that I truly loved you.
How awe-struck I’ve been
By the vision of your face,
Like Beatrice:
Not a young woman in love,
But just as mesmerizing.
I’ll withdraw from you
For your sake, love, if you will.
As sun behind clouds,
So shall I long to shine out,
Warming and blessing your life.
O, my friend, your love--
Don’t let it smoke or smolder;
Arouse gorgeous flames,
Fueling the fire with strong love,
And burn out all my dross.
Sitting by your fire,
You have stoked new flames in me;
Now my embers glow,
Illuminating your face,
Seen as only love reveals.
How can I stoke you,
Enflame your cool heart with love?
As you resist flames,
I await patiently, friend,
For your whole heart to ignite.
You smile, and I rise
On hidden wings of blest joy;
You become aloof,
And down I fall to the sea
Ikaros beneath the waves.
Daedalus, your son
Awaits his well-crafted wings;
Then with you he’ll soar,
To heaven upward and free,
Lifted on the winds of love.
The symbols of Ikaros and Daedalus, once brought into consciousness, now take flight on their own; the soul in love now unfolds a brief interior dialogue:
Ikaros to his father:
“Crafty Daedalus,
Making wings so I may fly;
Why did you not know
That I would soar dangerously
After years bound fast to earth?
Return, dear Eros--
My soul’s not made for flat earth,
But with you to rise
Above this mere-mortal world,
Into realms as yet unknown.
Ikaros will soar
High, high above mundane earth;
Far above your head
Old Daedalus, wing-maker,
Who flies neither low nor high.
Daedalus, maker
Of my soul’s sudden soaring,
How skilled your old hands
Crafting these wax-feather wings,
So I may fly as a god.”
Daedalus to his son:
“Ikaros, my son,
Foolish the man who flies high,
Melting his wax wings;
Prudent the man in-between
Waves below and sun above.
“The journey is long,
So restrain your giddiness,
Feeling free from earth.
Fly in the middle, fly far;
The extremes will defeat you.
“Ikaros, you’ve let
Eros blind your mind to truth,
To reality;
Love that lasts avoids excess,
Disciplined by self-restraint.
I give you wings, son,
Not to leave this `mundane earth;’
Fly within limits,
And you will fly free and far,
Viewing earth’s awesome beauty.
Set an ordered course,
Ikaros, between extremes;
Do not let hubris,
Greed, or vain youthful folly
Derail your journey’s long flight.
How sweet the flight, son,
Staying between sun and waves,
Within nature’s bounds
Set by the gods for our good,
Flying on wings of sane love.
The gods have blest us,
Son, and reason knows their way
In-between excesses;
Fly as a man, not a god;
Stay close to nourishing earth. “
Ikaros’ response:
“You’re now old, father;
Age has dulled your hoary head.
I’ll not fly between,
But soar high on Eros’ wings,
Forgetting earth-bound limits.
Desire is boundless,
And I’ll enjoy desire’s flight,
Soaring above you,
Old man, above earth’s flatness,
Reaching far into heaven.
My flight may be short,
But I will have known freedom,
And mighty Eros,
And the ways of deathless gods,
Who have no fear of pale death.
I’ll be myself, I
Ikaros, the man who flies
High above the earth,
Disregarding all limits
You or the gods try to set.
For love’s excesses
I will live with sheer delight;
Nothing hinders love
That makes a real man a god,
Free from nature’s fixed limits.”
Daedalus to Ikaros: Choose!
“Your journey is brief--
Foolishness will defeat you.
Fly too high and die,
For death will overthrow you
Neglecting human limits.
The flames of true love
Burn more slowly, last longer
Than Eros’ wild fire.
Better my glowing embers,
Than a rash fierce blaze of love.
I’m an old man, yes
And wisdom counsels respect
For nature’s set ways;
I love you, son, but not folly
To which you yield your blind soul.
Death will reward you,
Ikaros, for your proud love.
Renouncing all bounds,
You’ll soar above sacred earth,
Leading to your early death.
If by chance you turn,
Listening to your father,
Then you’ll still have wings,
But respect limitations,
And welcome their sound guidance.
Then love will be chaste;
Rather than wild flames, slowly
Purify your soul,
Making you like Athena,
Not drunk-wild Dionysos.
Then you will fare well
On your thousand-year journey,
And in this short life,
Useful to yourself and those
To whom chaste love should draw you.
The choice, son, is yours
To make before leaping out;
In your heart’s temple,
Weigh carefully my sound words;
None can undo his soul’s choice.”
—Wm. Paul McKane, OSB
15 January 2020
My beloved—not mine.
You belong to another
And to the Other;
You’re God’s friend, and mine as well;
Would that I truly loved you.
How awe-struck I’ve been
By the vision of your face,
Like Beatrice:
Not a young woman in love,
But just as mesmerizing.
I’ll withdraw from you
For your sake, love, if you will.
As sun behind clouds,
So shall I long to shine out,
Warming and blessing your life.
O, my friend, your love--
Don’t let it smoke or smolder;
Arouse gorgeous flames,
Fueling the fire with strong love,
And burn out all my dross.
Sitting by your fire,
You have stoked new flames in me;
Now my embers glow,
Illuminating your face,
Seen as only love reveals.
How can I stoke you,
Enflame your cool heart with love?
As you resist flames,
I await patiently, friend,
For your whole heart to ignite.
You smile, and I rise
On hidden wings of blest joy;
You become aloof,
And down I fall to the sea
Ikaros beneath the waves.
Daedalus, your son
Awaits his well-crafted wings;
Then with you he’ll soar,
To heaven upward and free,
Lifted on the winds of love.
The symbols of Ikaros and Daedalus, once brought into consciousness, now take flight on their own; the soul in love now unfolds a brief interior dialogue:
Ikaros to his father:
“Crafty Daedalus,
Making wings so I may fly;
Why did you not know
That I would soar dangerously
After years bound fast to earth?
Return, dear Eros--
My soul’s not made for flat earth,
But with you to rise
Above this mere-mortal world,
Into realms as yet unknown.
Ikaros will soar
High, high above mundane earth;
Far above your head
Old Daedalus, wing-maker,
Who flies neither low nor high.
Daedalus, maker
Of my soul’s sudden soaring,
How skilled your old hands
Crafting these wax-feather wings,
So I may fly as a god.”
Daedalus to his son:
“Ikaros, my son,
Foolish the man who flies high,
Melting his wax wings;
Prudent the man in-between
Waves below and sun above.
“The journey is long,
So restrain your giddiness,
Feeling free from earth.
Fly in the middle, fly far;
The extremes will defeat you.
“Ikaros, you’ve let
Eros blind your mind to truth,
To reality;
Love that lasts avoids excess,
Disciplined by self-restraint.
I give you wings, son,
Not to leave this `mundane earth;’
Fly within limits,
And you will fly free and far,
Viewing earth’s awesome beauty.
Set an ordered course,
Ikaros, between extremes;
Do not let hubris,
Greed, or vain youthful folly
Derail your journey’s long flight.
How sweet the flight, son,
Staying between sun and waves,
Within nature’s bounds
Set by the gods for our good,
Flying on wings of sane love.
The gods have blest us,
Son, and reason knows their way
In-between excesses;
Fly as a man, not a god;
Stay close to nourishing earth. “
Ikaros’ response:
“You’re now old, father;
Age has dulled your hoary head.
I’ll not fly between,
But soar high on Eros’ wings,
Forgetting earth-bound limits.
Desire is boundless,
And I’ll enjoy desire’s flight,
Soaring above you,
Old man, above earth’s flatness,
Reaching far into heaven.
My flight may be short,
But I will have known freedom,
And mighty Eros,
And the ways of deathless gods,
Who have no fear of pale death.
I’ll be myself, I
Ikaros, the man who flies
High above the earth,
Disregarding all limits
You or the gods try to set.
For love’s excesses
I will live with sheer delight;
Nothing hinders love
That makes a real man a god,
Free from nature’s fixed limits.”
Daedalus to Ikaros: Choose!
“Your journey is brief--
Foolishness will defeat you.
Fly too high and die,
For death will overthrow you
Neglecting human limits.
The flames of true love
Burn more slowly, last longer
Than Eros’ wild fire.
Better my glowing embers,
Than a rash fierce blaze of love.
I’m an old man, yes
And wisdom counsels respect
For nature’s set ways;
I love you, son, but not folly
To which you yield your blind soul.
Death will reward you,
Ikaros, for your proud love.
Renouncing all bounds,
You’ll soar above sacred earth,
Leading to your early death.
If by chance you turn,
Listening to your father,
Then you’ll still have wings,
But respect limitations,
And welcome their sound guidance.
Then love will be chaste;
Rather than wild flames, slowly
Purify your soul,
Making you like Athena,
Not drunk-wild Dionysos.
Then you will fare well
On your thousand-year journey,
And in this short life,
Useful to yourself and those
To whom chaste love should draw you.
The choice, son, is yours
To make before leaping out;
In your heart’s temple,
Weigh carefully my sound words;
None can undo his soul’s choice.”
—Wm. Paul McKane, OSB
15 January 2020