• Submit Poetry
  • Support SCP
  • About Us
  • Members
  • Join
Tuesday, October 7, 2025
Society of Classical Poets
  • Poems
    • Beauty
    • Culture
    • Satire
    • Humor
    • Children’s
    • Art
    • Ekphrastic
    • Epic
    • Epigrams and Proverbs
    • Human Rights in China
    • Music
    • Performing Arts
    • Riddles
    • Science
    • Song Lyrics
    • The Environment
    • The Raven
    • Found Poems
    • High School Poets
    • Terrorism
    • Covid-19
  • Poetry Forms
    • Sonnet
    • Haiku
    • Limerick
    • Villanelle
    • Rondeau
    • Pantoum
    • Sestina
    • Triolet
    • Acrostic
    • Alexandroid
    • Alliterative
    • Blank Verse
    • Chant Royal
    • Clerihew
    • Rhupunt
    • Rondeau Redoublé
    • Rondel
    • Rubaiyat
    • Sapphic Verse
    • Shape Poems
    • Terza Rima
  • Great Poets
    • Geoffrey Chaucer
    • Emily Dickinson
    • Homer
    • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
    • Dante Alighieri
    • John Keats
    • John Milton
    • Edgar Allan Poe
    • William Shakespeare
    • William Wordsworth
    • William Blake
    • Robert Frost
  • Love Poems
  • Contests
  • SCP Academy
    • Educational
    • Teaching Classical Poetry—A Guide for Educators
    • Poetry Forms
    • The SCP Journal
    • Books
No Result
View All Result
Society of Classical Poets
  • Poems
    • Beauty
    • Culture
    • Satire
    • Humor
    • Children’s
    • Art
    • Ekphrastic
    • Epic
    • Epigrams and Proverbs
    • Human Rights in China
    • Music
    • Performing Arts
    • Riddles
    • Science
    • Song Lyrics
    • The Environment
    • The Raven
    • Found Poems
    • High School Poets
    • Terrorism
    • Covid-19
  • Poetry Forms
    • Sonnet
    • Haiku
    • Limerick
    • Villanelle
    • Rondeau
    • Pantoum
    • Sestina
    • Triolet
    • Acrostic
    • Alexandroid
    • Alliterative
    • Blank Verse
    • Chant Royal
    • Clerihew
    • Rhupunt
    • Rondeau Redoublé
    • Rondel
    • Rubaiyat
    • Sapphic Verse
    • Shape Poems
    • Terza Rima
  • Great Poets
    • Geoffrey Chaucer
    • Emily Dickinson
    • Homer
    • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
    • Dante Alighieri
    • John Keats
    • John Milton
    • Edgar Allan Poe
    • William Shakespeare
    • William Wordsworth
    • William Blake
    • Robert Frost
  • Love Poems
  • Contests
  • SCP Academy
    • Educational
    • Teaching Classical Poetry—A Guide for Educators
    • Poetry Forms
    • The SCP Journal
    • Books
No Result
View All Result
Society of Classical Poets
No Result
View All Result
Home Poetry Beauty

‘Son of Europe’ by Carlos Perona Calvete

June 23, 2016
in Beauty, Culture, Poetry
A A
6

So turn whereto it dies,
Pulse of a draining sun:
The face of daylight’s guise
The yield that night has won.
See on the far-west front,
Goes trotting godly fame:
The bull called occident.
His white hide bears a name –
By what light is yet sparred
(Again, he is Jove paired!)
It reads: she, wide of brow;
Or maybe: she, of dusk.*
Set on, she will avow
The birth of this cultus.
It spells out Europa,
(Decorous, ridding brusque)
God’s virgin mineral
(With frankincense for musk)
Fair consort of the bull.
Kingly initiate,
Oh regal neophyte –
The gods part you from blame,
Buried to be raised up.
Birthed thus into you name:
Son of Zeus and Europe.**

 

*Gilman, D. Thurston, H. and Colby F. (eds.), 1905. Europa. In: New International Encyclopedia. New York: Dodd, Mead.

**Euripides, Cretans, cited in: Porphyry, On Abstinence from Animal Food, IV:xix.

For the myth of Europa, or Europe, click here.

 

Carlos Perona Calvete, twenty-six, lives in Brussels and has a background in International Relations and Organizational Behavior.

ShareTweetPin
The Society of Classical Poets does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or commentary.
Read Our Comments Policy Here
Next Post
‘Lone Cypress, Pebble Beach’ and Other Poetry by Alec Ream

'Lone Cypress, Pebble Beach' and Other Poetry by Alec Ream

‘Cribbed Agency’ and Other Poetry by Frank De Canio

'Cribbed Agency' and Other Poetry by Frank De Canio

A Donald Trump Clerihew and Other Poetry by Dave Martin

A Donald Trump Clerihew and Other Poetry by Dave Martin

Comments 6

  1. Neal Dachstadter says:
    9 years ago

    This poem taught me a great deal. “Inspiring” may be overworked but that will just have to be the case.

    Reply
    • 绿山从 From Green Mountain (Cong Lu Shan) says:
      9 years ago

      I am more interested to know what the poem means specifically. The only word I am left with is inspiring. So I correct myself. It is for worse that I remain so inerudite. As to matters of the classical life, it is better to be erudite. Mundane earthlife is best left to necessity. And, in other themes, the classical Chinese earthly animal is the horse, I believe. Ma. Ma. Ma. Horse. Wood. Mother.

      Reply
    • C. Perona says:
      9 years ago

      Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed it.

      Reply
  2. John Nazareth says:
    9 years ago

    Carlos Perona Calvete, your poem is full of vivid flow and bright images .I love to go through more of your theme titles.

    Reply
    • C. Perona says:
      9 years ago

      Thank you! I’ll try publishing a few more in this vein (mytho-thematic).

      Reply
  3. Emilia says:
    9 years ago

    An inspiring poem by a young son of Europe…thank you Carlos Perona! This poem coudn’t have been published at a better moment…

    Reply

Leave a Reply to John Nazareth Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  1. Margaret Coats on ‘The Bachelors’ Debate’ and Other Poetry by Christian MullerOctober 7, 2025

    Christian, "Saint Wilfrid's Church" is a masterpiece of delight. You move through the subtle manifestations of light and cold on…

  2. Margaret Coats on ‘Autumn Air’: A Poem by Jeffrey EssmannOctober 7, 2025

    Jeffrey, I like the choice of "counterpart" as a musical term. This is a relatively rare usage, but used to…

  3. Russel Winick on ‘Nice Things Done’ and Other Poems by Russel WinickOctober 7, 2025

    Margaret — As for nice things done, yes, that’s another accurate way of looking at it, I believe. As for…

  4. Margaret Coats on ‘Nice Things Done’ and Other Poems by Russel WinickOctober 7, 2025

    You're quite right about nice things, Russel. The motivation can be selfish or snarky, but when the things are done,…

  5. Margaret Coats on ‘Rare Books’: A Poem by Mary Jane MyersOctober 6, 2025

    The entire poem, Mary Jane, is a beautiful series of scenes from "the stuff of dreams" at Oxford. The country…

Facebook Twitter Youtube

Archive

Categories

Quick Links

  • About Us
  • Submit Poetry
  • Become a Member
  • Members List
  • Support the Society
  • Advertisement Placement
  • Comments Policy
  • Terms of Use

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Poems
    • Beauty
    • Culture
    • Satire
    • Humor
    • Children’s
    • Art
    • Ekphrastic
    • Epic
    • Epigrams and Proverbs
    • Human Rights in China
    • Music
    • Performing Arts
    • Riddles
    • Science
    • Song Lyrics
    • The Environment
    • The Raven
    • Found Poems
    • High School Poets
    • Terrorism
    • Covid-19
  • Poetry Forms
    • Sonnet
    • Haiku
    • Limerick
    • Villanelle
    • Rondeau
    • Pantoum
    • Sestina
    • Triolet
    • Acrostic
    • Alexandroid
    • Alliterative
    • Blank Verse
    • Chant Royal
    • Clerihew
    • Rhupunt
    • Rondeau Redoublé
    • Rondel
    • Rubaiyat
    • Sapphic Verse
    • Shape Poems
    • Terza Rima
  • Great Poets
    • Geoffrey Chaucer
    • Emily Dickinson
    • Homer
    • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
    • Dante Alighieri
    • John Keats
    • John Milton
    • Edgar Allan Poe
    • William Shakespeare
    • William Wordsworth
    • William Blake
    • Robert Frost
  • Love Poems
  • Contests
  • SCP Academy
    • Educational
    • Teaching Classical Poetry—A Guide for Educators
    • Poetry Forms
    • The SCP Journal
    • Books

© 2025 SCP. WebDesign by CODEC Prime.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.