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Alchemy

But let us not forget her – bastard sister,
The never-quite-to-be, the darkling star
Among the glitterati constellations…
She that lived here, reigned here in the Golden Lane…
How clear her equation looks: Hg + S
Transmuting to Au… Alas, not so…
Childless she died, derided… Prospering sisters
Chemia, Physica, Pharmaceutica wear
Her jewels in unacknowledged heritage…
So many salts and tinctures and devices
From her deserted laboratoria
Still serve our lives… And even her Arcanum,
Her secret of all secrets proved not false –
Merely ironic… Yes… gold can be made
By transmutation – if we care to start
From its "unripe" and far, far costlier
Analogue – platinum!
                                  And she, herself,
Still lingers, phantomesque, in those deepest dreams
And archetypes that fledge our Pegasus
Through secondary worlds of our own creating.
And so, let us recall and honour her
On this Prague morning, when each bookshop window
Proclaims (in Czech) plaudits of "Rowlingova"
And the Boy Wizard and the arcane Stone!
Let her, this day at least, resume her crown,
Peacock her progress through the Golden Lane,
And let her sisters, formed in the marriage-bed
Of cosmic realia and human reason,
Embrace her, clasp her so-long-idle hands,
And own themselves her living legacy.

Author notes

This poem may seem a little peripheral for your competition, being about a false (but yet once so logical seeming) start!

But as, in March 2006, it was broadcast (as part of the UK's "National Science Week" celebrations, it was broadcast in the BBC's weekly science programme "Leading Edge", perhaps you will accept "Auntie Beeb's" judgement that it can fit a "science" context.

It was written in Prague (once the mediaeval "capital" of the alchemists and their search for the Philosophers' Stone) on the publication day of the Czech translation of "Harry Potter and the Philosophers' Stone" - which, not surprisingly, was treated as one of the major literary events of the year!


A contest entry

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Comments

1 - 11 of 11

  • cricketjeff gold member
    May 17
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    Although this is in celebration of what is now very much a parascience (pronounced mumbojumbo ) alchemy was very much the father of modern chemistry and materials science, so yes I'm sure this qualifies and is an excellent poem

    Thanks for the entry, and all the best

    Jeff


  • reckless abandon
    April 23

    Edit | Reply
    I saw that a lot of people did not understand this... I think it makes perfect sense. great write I really enjoyed reading it =)


  • Star of Atlantis
    June 18, 2008

    Edit | Reply
    i love this and want to do more research after reading it very interesting thank you for waking up my mind and making me think

  • ecrivain01
    June 16, 2008

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    Actually ...

    I like it. It is a bit off topic in some respects, but then again, J.K. Rowling is English, and Harry Potter is more cosmopolitan than most people realize.

  • Atrus
    March 3, 2008

    Edit | Reply
    Oh wow. See this is why I love hosting contests -- because I never know what I'm going to get. Don't worry about it falling into the contest category-- I definitely see enough science included to make it a legitimate pre-write entry.

    During my first read through I was trying to think of what scientist you could be describing (the last thing on my mind was Harry Potter). I envisioned Madame Curie, etc., but was intrigued to read the poem again when I found out it was J.K.

    All in all I enjoyed this poem. Thank you so much

  • ecrivain01
    December 1, 2007
    Edit | Reply

    I think it's great ...

    and good luck in all those contests. Surely SOMEBODY will understand it before they all end.


  • Ifyoulovemekillme
    November 30, 2007

    Edit | Reply

    Thanks

    But i really didn't understand it..
    kinda got lost after 2nd line.
    but im very sure if i could understand it,
    it would be awesome


  • Spring Blossoms gold member
    September 22, 2007
    Edit | Reply

    Thanks for your entry

    I didn't understand this. So I don't know how to comment on.

    Good luck,
    Ashley


  • Corinthians13-4
    June 3, 2007

    Edit | Reply
    Hmm... not sure. I need to look at this again, give it another comment, don't know what I think about it yet.


  • g r e y i s m
    March 16, 2007

    Edit | Reply
    I like this very much. To some extent it reminds me of some of Plath's work. The word choices and the assonance make this all the more enjoyable.

    Well written, for sure...

    Lea


  • Keith
    January 28, 2007

    Edit | Reply

    Very interesting

    I honestly had no idea that J.K. Rowling's fame had spread as far. I'm going to have to get down and read the books some time. I'd say good luck in the competition, but I have a sneaking suspicion that this may not be exactly what is required! You've transmuted the periodic table into purest gold, and I'm applauding that. Excellent stuff.

1 - 11 of 11