Long Artemisia Poems

“Éagmais croí a dhíscaoileadh ar gach eagla.
Faoi dhíon taobh istigh de na blianta seo.
Fanacht i bhfianaise, a dhíscaoileadh ar gach eagla.
Ós rud é go ndearnadh tú a chaitheamh.
Briseadh an tost seo”



"An Bee Cailleach"


She lives to...

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Judge Daniele Saggio

This year of our salvation, sixteen twelve.
Now.  Gentileschi? Don Orazio?
This suit is yours.  You’d press it?  Drop it?  Shelve

it?  Very good.  And you are Tazzio?
Beg pardon, Tassi....

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A Daniel, Come to Judgment!

Before I give my judgment in this case,
my custom is to have the plaintiff read
aloud, before the other party, face to face

the statute law that’s pertinent.  The screed,
Miss Gentileschi, starts...

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Agostino Tassi

(The Accused now gives evidence,
coming fresh from the vigil torture,
which involves sleep deprivation.
His arrogant, careless manner
doesn't win him any friends.)


I think the Court will understand
if I’m a little under par.
The vigil thing!  I...

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(It was 1860 when the English poet Robert Browning
stumbled upon an interesting artefact as he walked
through the city of Florence.  It was a file of documents
from an old Italian criminal trial, and he would...

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Robert browning and Me (2)

Where was I with that book on Artemisia?
No Internet or Amazon back then,
So I got busy trudging round – then busier.
No joy. “American?  We’ll call you when …”
“Import it from...

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Artemide Cacciatrice (2)

The carriage trip – who’d like the factual version?
That whole idea was Tuzia’s, never mine.
“Let’s take a carriage for a day excursion,
and have a picnic on the Aventine –
we’ll see the Seven Churches!”...

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(Pierantonio Stiattesi really existed.  He was somehow
on the periphery of the Gentileschi social circle.  Tassi
really did send him a sonnet entitled, “Change, change,
Stiattesi!”  Some years after the trial, Stiattesi married
Artemisia … so...

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I have heard of it before, but I never knew what it was until I walk through the door, I thought it was a wood made of special ink and it cast a strange dye...

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Spring flowers





Artemisia bear the colourful foliage
Bluebells carpet a magical sight
Coreopsis and cherries blossom
Daffodils are seen in jovial mood
Eranthis buds as the snow melts,
Forsythia screams it's spring time,
Grape hyacinths trumpet arrival 
Hellebore shows surprising resilience,
Irises have...

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Robert Browning and Me (1)

Imagine me in nineteen ninety-two,
in need of something to ignite the flame:
the London Independent – a review!
The painter Gentileschi – striking name!
(American professor’s brand-new book,
describing how the Roman girl was raped,
and...

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The Last Chance was like a gunshot,
A Digger who met Artemisia almost like nought,
It moved, it flowed,
It conquered the lands of Romans
Binned with a flick of a finger in a sentence
Tapped on a tip of...

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(One of Artemisia's paintings deals with
this story, found only in the Catholic and 
Orthodox bibles.  Susannah is sexually
bullied by two old men, but the young
Daniel passes by and condemns the 
culprits.) 


Susannah and the...

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(A true story.  In the year 1612, a young artist
named Artemisia Gentileschi, native of Rome,
was raped by one of her father's artist colleagues.
This is the tale of the subsequent criminal trial
and its impact on...

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(After the rape, and for the rest of her life,
Artemisia turned out canvas after canvas
containing disturbing images of women
beheading men - with obvious phallic
castration undertones.)

Judith and Holofernes

There’s only one way to be free of them.
The...

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Beyond the mighty Humboldt
Where the Artemisia blooms,
The broken ribs of mountains
Lie tilted toward the sky.

‘Twas called a wretched wasteland
That Satan, himself, passed by;
Where no self-respecting bird 
Would stay if it could fly.

Its rivers are pretenses,
Called...

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In the shadow of the night, a woman stands,
Her eyes, as chilly as the winter's winds,
Her hand raised high, a sword in her hand,
Her face, a mask of pure malice.

She towers over a man, his...

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absinthe…
not absent this proof
the ascend of spirits grande
fairies greene as flowers bland
pour from a bottle 
three in hand

“goddess of the hunt” 
a drink most beautiful

origins Callisto
of generations purposeful
a papyrus recorded 
medicinal
and magical 
a cold mix...

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