Sunday, November 08, 2009

Mermaid



Her name is Selena.

13 comments:

RT said...

Selena the fish goddess!
Dreamy blue eyes and lovely hair. She is planning to enchant someone with that look and her pretty melody...Right?

OK, your homework is calling you.

Chana said...

RT,

Course she is. I made her to be my playmate. I actually modeled her after the selkies (you remember how I adore the selkies...) As for the cursed homework, I shall get to it eventually...sigh.

The Shipper said...

The selkies! Yes, she looks like she's about to burst out and dance!

Gavi said...

Haunting eyes. Brings to mind the legend of the Sirens.

Funny I write this after reading your last couple of posts... Maybe the halachos governing male-female interations (negiya, yichud, tznius, etc.) are the wax in the ears of the sailors, and the twine that bound Odysseus, allowing him to survive his encounter with the Sirens, the nimshal being the yetzer hara. And after Odysseus sails past, the Sirens die, echoing the gemara where Hashem kills the yetzer hara (Sukkah 52a).

Not bad, mashal from Greek mythology...

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My brother discussed male-female friendships with me some time ago - would you like me to send you what I wrote to him then? I would have to edit it a bit (personal references and such), but I think you may enjoy it...

Chana said...

Gavi,

I'm glad you appreciate her eyes. The eyes are windows to the soul...

That's a beautiful idea! In that case, though, I was meant to be Odysseus, not his sailors. Odysseus, Man of Pain, who desires to hear the song of haunting beauty even though he struggles against the ropes that bind him in an effort to be free...you are actually not the first to bring up this idea to me. My friend Marc, way back in my first year of Stern (so 2006) suggested this same understanding to me. *smile* I'd be delighted to hear your thoughts on the matter.

Anonymous said...

And the colors of the sea blind your eyes with trembling mermaids,
And you touch the distant beaches with tales of brave Ulysses:
How his naked ears were tortured by the sirens sweetly singing,
For the sparkling waves are calling you to kiss their white laced lips.

Anonymous said...

Chana,here is something you'll appreciate:

The Mermaid

~by Lord Alfred Tennyson

I

Who would be
A mermaid fair,
Singing alone,
Combing her hair
Under the sea,
In a golden curl
With a comb of pearl,
On a throne?

II

I would be a mermaid fair;
I would sing to myself the whole of the day;
With a comb of pearl I would comb my hair;
And still as I comb'd I would sing and say,
'Who is it loves me? who loves not me?'
I would comb my hair till my ringlets would fall
Low adown, low adown,
From under my starry sea-bud crown
Low adown and around,
And I should look like a fountain of gold
Springing alone
With a shrill inner sound
Over the throne
In the midst of the hall;
Till that great sea-snake under the sea
From his coiled sleeps in the central deeps
Would slowly trail himself sevenfold
Round the hall where I sate, and look in at the gate
With his large calm eyes for the love of me.
And all the mermen under the sea
Would feel their immortality
Die in their hearts for the love of me.

III

But at night I would wander away, away,
I would fling on each side my low-flowing locks,
And lightly vault from the throne and play
With the mermen in and out of the rocks;
We would run to and fro, and hide and seek,
On the broad sea-wolds in the crimson shells,
Whose silvery spikes are nighest the sea.
But if any came near I would call and shriek,
And adown the steep like a wave I would leap
From the diamond-ledges that jut from the dells;
For I would not be kiss'd by all who would list
Of the bold merry mermen under the sea.
They would sue me, and woo me, and flatter me,
In the purple twilights under the sea;
But the king of them all would carry me,
Woo me, and win me, and marry me,
In the branching jaspers under the sea.
Then all the dry-pied things that be
In the hueless mosses under the sea
Would curl round my silver feet silently,
All looking up for the love of me.
And if I should carol aloud, from aloft
All things that are forked, and horned, and soft
Would lean out from the hollow sphere of the sea,
All looking down for the love of me.

Staying Afloat said...

The eyes are done beautifully- there's real connection there. I also love the angular face and the angles of her arms,the combination of which evoke Picasso for me.

Clapton is Gd (not really) said...

Ah, Anon934
Cream is awesome!

Anonymous said...

Reminds me greatly of you.

Chana said...

Anon 8:53,

What specifically reminds you? Just curious...

Anonymous said...

Blue eyes, the length of the hair.

Anon 8:53

Chana said...

Yes, my Mermaid has rather curious eyes, does she not? There's a verse in the Talmud that my friend once taught me, "A woman with beautiful eyes, the rest of her body need not be inspected." I believe in beautiful eyes.