I am Sol Invictus,
Let ye mortals know:
For into gold and coin
Was my standard wrung and wrought,
And my powers were omiscient
As my arms were immaterial,
These that lashed as tongues of fire,
Bellowing and spitting
My burning, brazen glory.
I am Sol Invictus,
Whose name you no doubt heard,
Spoken upon a forum’s pulpit,
Echoed throughout the Parthenon
And pronounced in every street,
For by my will warred
Ten thousand red steeled legions
Of brass, bronze, and blood.
I am Sol Invictus,
The god you see above,
The unconquerable who was conquered,
Torn down by my greatest son,
Who united four Scepters into one:
For to he went the Purple,
And to him – my undying flame.
I am Sol Invictus,
Whose immortality was slain,
Cut not by Achilles’ blade,
Or the 300 spears of Ares:
T’was by the acts of he,
Whose name is now three times revered,
The god in flesh, my heir –
Caesar Constantine the Victor, the Augustus, the Great.
Author notes
Sol Invictus is more commonly known as Helios. In the period of the late Roman Empire, Sol Invictus was the most popularly worshipped diety in the Roman Empire at the time shortly before, during, and after Constantine the Great's reign (until it was surpassed by Christianity). Sol Invictus means "Unconquerable Sun".
Constantine the Great, himself, worshipped Sol Invictus and, especially before he began his religious shift towards Christianity, claimed himself to be a son of the sun god. He also claimed, at one point, to have had a vision from the sun god (this was prior to the vision that he later claimed to have had of the chi-rho that became his army's standard later), and Constantine depicted Sol Invictus on the coinage that was minted during much of his reign.
This poem brings these things to light from the point of view of Sol Lavictus, who begins as the all-powerful diety of the Empire whose face is minted on every coin, to being, in the end, killed by the Emperor who had before claimed to be his "son" due to Constantine's conversion and his act of, more or less, beginning the conversion of the Empire.
************************************************************
While the repeated phrase "I am Sol Lavictus" is not a common part of free-verse poetry, I feel the phrase gives the entire piece more power and, having had several poets confirm that it is still considered free-verse, I submit it for this Free-verse contest.
The rhyming of "son" and "one" is unintentional. That was stated to recount the fact that Constantine was one Emperor amongst four, all who ruled four different parts of the Empire, and that he then united all four parts into "one".
~Dudas Drakaan
A contest entry
- Freeverse Only. [PW's Allowed] by OurxBeginning.
400 points, ended October 14, 75 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
What are your thoughts? Did you enjoy it?
Comments
1 - 14 of 14
-
Very Intreaging.
History, mythology, and history explained all in one artistic swoop. I love this grand piece of yours. Well done.
-
I found this to be really unique. I have never heard of the person you speak of though, to be honest with you. I think the repitition worked quite well. The imagery was like a story/movie in my head, and I liked that. Thanks for entering and good luck in the contest.
-
This is perhaps the best poem of yours I can recall reading. I actually figured out that you were talking about Helios before coming to your explanation, which pleased me...because I say I "figured it out", but really only had that guess. Except I was thinking Apollo instead, I suppose due to your Greekness. =P
But yeah...I really think this is better than most of your poems I can recall reading. Many lines to point to here that I like a whole lot..."for by my will warred ten-thousand red-steeled legions of brass and bronze and blood" is one of those. "The unconquerable who was conquered" and "whose immortality was slain" are both delightful contradictions that lend a certain power to the piece...it drives home the momentous nature of his fade out of the general consciousness, since he once was so deeply ingrained that doubtless the Romans would have killed each other over matters of his honor, as the Greeks would have for Apollo in turn.
But yes...I definitely did not grasp the full meaning until reading your summary. I didn't really have enough of a background of Roman history I guess. But I like that though...so, so many poems on this site that I've seen are penned in a very obvious and non-challenging way. I will go as far as to say: some of yours included, which caused me to find them forgettable although I cannot recall reading anything of yours I didn't see great potential for. In this though, its potential is quite nearly realized and I'll admit I can't point to anything about this poem at all that I'd like improvement on, and can't really give constructive criticism of it even. It's just a solid work...like I said, I think probably my favorite of yours that I've read.
-
-
I'm glad you both enjoyed and appreciated the poem. It's really good to see that you grasped that was I trying to communicate, not only the story in general, but the the deeper meaning of his fall itself in the "general consciousness" of the Romans.
The moment I began publishing this poem I thought "More than half the people who read this poem aren't going to know half of what the hell I'm saying. But then Josh is probably going to love it."
It seems my prophetic ability has grown. Perhaps I can some day be an Edgar Cayce?
-
-
Wonderful
Very creative and so well written. And very well expressed. Best of luck in the contest.
-
-
Just realized that you said "very creative" twice. ^_^ Lolies.
-
Thanks very much.
-
-
I like the last stanza. the rest feels like just a summary of things. I guess I'm not familiar with the subject.
-
-
Yeah, I think this poem went over the heads of quite a few people. That's ok. That's probably why you didn't enjoy it very much.
Really, I wanted this poem to say something different that emotions or personal feelings. I wanted to just DO something different, because I, and everyone else, seem to do nothing but talk about the same bloody things - sex, love, war, death, pain, etc. So, I instead chose to tell a story and do so from the point of view of a god.
I hope it was entertaining, at least, if not incredibly poetic and deep. -
-
I feel ya!
Nice and simple can be refreshing. =] I did find it interesting that it was from a god's point of view.
-
-
-
I must say, I really enjoy almost every poem I read by you, and this is no exception. I really like this poem, especially the second time I read it, after reading your notes. The mythological references began to make even more sense after I learned that 'Sol Invictus' is 'Helios', especially the 'the god you see above' on line 19. A really good poem.
-
-
Thank you, Dylan. I'm glad you liked it.
-
-
Something interesting here..
Constantine decreed: "Having therefore so confident a hope, dearly beloved, abide firm in the Faith in which you are built: lest that same tempter whose tyranny over you, Christ has already destroyed, win you back again with any of his wiles, and mar even the joys of the present festival by his deceitful art, misleading simpler souls with the pestilential notion of some to whom this our solemn feast day seems to derive its honour, not so much from the nativity of Christ as, according to them, from the rising of the new sun. Such men's hearts are wrapped in total darkness, and have no growing perception of the true Light: for they are still drawn away by the foolish errors of heathendom, and because they cannot lift the eyes of their mind above that which their carnal sight beholds, they pay divine honour to the luminaries that minister to the world."
-
-
Well that's cool... though it doesn't really have too much to do with the poem. Haha!
But thanks for the comment and the clappies.
-
Adding your comment:
1 - 14 of 14
