Songs of Hearth and Home
Over the weekend I went on a cleaning rampage; my youngest was recovering from surgery so I wasn't going anywhere, and as he snoozed on the couch I tackled my house. I often make jokes about the wreck that my house has become (though sometimes I am not exaggerating) but I also always comment on how much I love to be home, keeping our home as warm and welcoming for my family as I can while balancing work and writing. (And reading, I admit it.) As my family has grown and I have become more attached to homecaring, I have found myself drawn more and more to goddesses of the hearth, Hestia, Brigid, Taltiu, and so many others that formed the foundation of home so many lifetimes ago. I have missed a few days of poems again...tonight I shall make up for it with songs of the hearth and home.
(Anonymous. The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English
Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White. Homeric Hymns. Cambridge,
MA.,Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914.)
(Anonymous. The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English
Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White. Homeric Hymns. Cambridge,
MA.,Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914.)
Rage and roar upon your thrones,
Love, loot and hate, be disparate,
But not for me are bawls and blows;
I’ll tend the hearth, the heart, the grate.
In the shadows I rest, my face a-glow –
Not plagued by fury as hot as fire,
Nor ambition, wrath, desire,
Nor revenge as cold as snow.
Quiet yet not dormant,
Docile though not all compliant,
You may scoff and scorn my choice
But I still hold the eternal fire –
My flame keeps Olympus alight,
I keep all safe throughout the night
And though I am not in your sight
You’ll always find me through your plight.
For I am Hestia,
First-born goddess,
The softest star.
http://hellopoetry.com/words/191229/hestia/poems/
Hymn 29: To Hestia
Hestia, in the high dwellings of all,
both deathless gods and men who
walk on earth,
you have gained an everlasting abode and highest honor:
glorious is your portion and your right.
For without you mortals hold no banquet,
—where one does not duly pour
sweet wine in offering to Hestia both first and last.
And you, Slayer of Argus,
Son of Zeus and Maia,
messenger of the blessed gods,
bearer of the golden rod,
giver of good,
be favorable and help us,
you and Hestia, the worshipful and dear.
Come and dwell in this glorious house in friendship together;
for you two, well knowing the noble actions of men,
aid on their wisdom and their strength.
Hail, Daughter of Cronos, and you also,
Hermes, bearer of the golden rod!
Now I will remember you and another song also.
Son of Zeus and Maia,
messenger of the blessed gods,
bearer of the golden rod,
giver of good,
be favorable and help us,
you and Hestia, the worshipful and dear.
Come and dwell in this glorious house in friendship together;
for you two, well knowing the noble actions of men,
aid on their wisdom and their strength.
Hail, Daughter of Cronos, and you also,
Hermes, bearer of the golden rod!
Now I will remember you and another song also.
Hymn 24: To Hestia
Hestia, you who tend the holy house of the lord Apollo,
the Far-shooter at goodly Pytho,
with soft oil dripping ever from your locks,
come now into this house,
come, having one mind with Zeus the all-wise
—draw near, and withal bestow grace upon my song.
Love, loot and hate, be disparate,
But not for me are bawls and blows;
I’ll tend the hearth, the heart, the grate.
In the shadows I rest, my face a-glow –
Not plagued by fury as hot as fire,
Nor ambition, wrath, desire,
Nor revenge as cold as snow.
Quiet yet not dormant,
Docile though not all compliant,
You may scoff and scorn my choice
But I still hold the eternal fire –
My flame keeps Olympus alight,
I keep all safe throughout the night
And though I am not in your sight
You’ll always find me through your plight.
For I am Hestia,
First-born goddess,
The softest star.
http://hellopoetry.com/words/191229/hestia/poems/
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