An Admonition

from Antigone

Remember Danae, walled up in the dark,
Princess imprisoned on a prophet's word,
Barred and bolted in a tower of brass.

Yet molten Zeus, a battering ray of light,
(O nebulous shock! O blossom-stripping shower!)
Ungirdled and dishevelled her with gold.

Implacable Fate always fulfils its ends.
Not military power nor the power of money,
Not battlements of stone nor black-hulled fleets

Can fend off Fate or keep its force at bay.
Blood under maenads' nails, on the mountain path,
Cries on the wind, weeping heard in the palace:

Whoever has been spared the worst is blessed.

Copyright © 2004 Seamus Heaney All rights reserved
from Meridian
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission