The Chained Muse

By Terry Norton

Cassandra

Both beauty and intelligence were mine. But to what end? Of all the nineteen who Sprang from my mother’s fecund thighs, of daughters I...

By Daniel Leach

An Evening in the "Simultaneity of Eternity"—with Shakespeare, Keats, and William Warfield

The following is a workshop and dialogue on the art of classical poetic recitation. We at The Chained Muse believe that a revival of...

By Stewart Burke

The Garden of Lonely Pleasure

Within this garden of lonely pleasure the living waters whisper your name. Iris and lilac—now wild, but once tame— herald Spring’s...

By Paul Gallagher

Apollo

I looked upon the Moon’s face, one evening warm and bright, As near as a silver Matterhorn in the setting Sun alight; That curving height...

By Rowland Hughes

Lake and Rainbow

We stopped at the lakeside and saw our first rainbow. It bled from a rusty sky, imported from a world unfamiliar to us both. This was...

By Adam Sedia

The Chrysanthemums

When torrid Summer’s greenery, Its vibrant hues and spiced perfume Lie far, fast-fading memory, Your flowers bloom. When all the world...

Translation

The Legend of the Pariah

The Pariah’s Prayer Great lord Brahma, lord of spirits, From whom all life traces its seed; Standing at creation’s summits, Was your will...

By Adam Sedia

From Modernism to Subversion: William Carlos Williams and the Beat Poets

Although shocking for its time, Beat poetry was not unanticipated. It developed from modernist antecedents it readily acknowledged, most...

By Dean Z. Douthat

Graveyard Shift

By morning's light, my new-born brain's athrob With truth's half-lie and lying words half-truth. To sort them out becomes the day's first...

By Janice Canerdy

Now, Smile and Wave & Other Poetry

With precious children you’ve been blessed. You’ve guided them with loving care. While helping them become their best, your standards...

By John H. B. Martin

Grace and Flavour: A Response to C.S. Lewis's "Christianity & Culture"

In a previous essay (De Gustibus (Et Pulchritudinis) I argued that Beauty is absolute and not relative, and is therefore not merely a...

By Caitlin Johnstone

Future Generations, If There Are Future Generations

Future generations, if there are future generations, will scarce believe that our species once stockpiled armageddon weapons on purpose,...