ABC Wednesday
March 14th, 2012

And the letter this week is I


How about I is for Ianthe

John William Godward

Ianthe was as Cretan girl, so beautiful that when she died the Gods made

 purple flowers grow around her grave.

She was betrothed to Iphis, a woman raised as a man who also fell in love

with Ianthe and prayed to the gods to allow the two woman to marry.

She was changed by Isis into a man and became Ianthe's husband.

Here are three small poems by Walter Savage Landor, 1775-1864

Ianthe's Troubles

Your pleasures spring like daisies in the grass,

Cut down and up again as blithe as ever,

From you, Ianthe, little troubles pass

Like little ripples in a sunny river.

Ianthe's Question

Do you remember me? or are you proud?

Lightly advancing thro' her star-trimmed crowd.

Ianthe said, and look'd into my eyes

'A yes, a yes to both for Memory

Where you but once have been must ever be,

And at your voice Pride from his throne must rise'

Soon, O Ianthe! Life is O'er

Soon, O Ianthe! life is o'er,

And sooner beauty's heavenly smile:

Grant only (and I ask no more),

Let love remain that little while.

In reading about Ianthe I have come to the conclusion that her beauty was the muse for many men who used her name to describe the women they loved.   And I am also made aware of how ancient

 is the idea of 'gender-bending'.......

For more takes on the letter I visit here at Mrs. Nesbitt's ABC Wednesday,

an Ideal meme.