Persephone am I shut tight within


no ray of light doth caress my pale brow


The wanted golden beams upon sad skin



will not come; this Hades cannot allow.



Seeds six took I unthinking yet to live



apart from open sky, and flowers bright.



They wither lacking that which I might give.



Too weak am I against his robust might



but he cannot hold me in his cold hand.



The tender buds begin to bloom on earth,



when I go free, not under his command.



I touch the barren soil, from whence comes birth.



These days are not all thine, Hades, since I



walk still and give earth life, beneath a sky.