At Eleusis

What they did,

they did for Dionysos,

for ecstasy’s sake:

now take the basket,

think;

think of the moment you count

most foul in your life;

conjure it,

supplicate,

pray to it;

your face is bleak, you retract,

you dare not remember it:

stop;

it is too late.

the next stands by the altar step,

a child’s face yet not innocent,

it will prove adequate, but you,

I could have spelt your peril at the gate,

yet for your mind’s sake,

though you could not enter,

wait.

What they did,

they did for Dionysos,

for ecstasy’s sake:

Now take the basket —

(ah face in a dream,

did I not know your heart,

I would falter,

for each that fares onward

is my child;

ah can you wonder

that my hands shake,

that my knees tremble,

I a mortal, set in the goddess’ place?)