When the sun of my life was shining The ink on my quill was bone dry The words on paper had vanished Under a tongue wet with drink Flowing with boisterous laughter Fates must have known I strayed From my narrow path as a writer Sending you oh muse Melpomene As inspiration to rekindle my fire Burning down my favorite pub Killing my childhood friends Before laying low the kingdom By assassination of the monarch Throwing the country into a war Calling for the blood of young men Now finding myself in bloody fields Gripping the quill in campfire light Finding myself with plenty of words To write about the horrors witnessed While lamenting each sunrise on A new day that may claim my life Before I am able to write down All the words that I have to say About you cruel muse Melpomene Dangling inspiration like a sword Hanging over Damocles’ throne Never knowing when it will end Though knowing it’s always waiting As motivation to keep creating Before my book finally closes Melpomene take my tribute in ink Saving my blood to keep praising
The writing prompt is a response to Ingrid over at dVerse asking who is your muse. I wrote invoking Melpomene the Muse of Tragedy.
Copyright © 2021 TJS Sherman All rights reserved.
Musing & Creating with T.J.S. Sherman 
So tragic, chilling, and startling! Love how you invoked the muse of tragedy and chaos. It feels so fresh and a tad regretful, like “After all of this, was it worth it?” Definitely getting that vibe from this poem, and I love it. Beautifully, beautifully written with profundity and elegance.
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Clearly my muse is tragedy, but I wanted to think about the muse personified to truly push her worshiper. Thank you!
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I had never heard of the word, Melpomene. I learned something today! 😃
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Not a word, a “person.” It’s one of the ancient muses. 😀
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Yes, exactly. lol… My daughter and I had to look it up in the dictionary. It’s always interesting the things I come across on WP, and this is one thing that I doubt I will forget.
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Greek mythology can be a great inspiration, I’d encourage diving in when you have some time!
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This is dark and haunting: the idea that you abandoned the Muse, so she got her revenge, and now you must keep writing to appease her so she will let you live another day! Brilliant work on the prompt 🙂
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Excellent prompt. I think we do disservice when we forget our muses (mystical or otherwise).
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Absolutely!
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Stark, sombre, and exceptionally written.
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Thank you!
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Melpomene as muse …. I could feel every tragic emotion in this epic poem. Beautifully penned.
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Thank you! It’s unfortunate that tragedy is such a good muse.
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Melpomene — She is a powerful Muse and a blessing to your readers, if she keeps you writing this powerful prose.
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