Incantation for the Hare Nidhi Zak/Aria Eipe
Incantation for the Hare
Herk! fyrst spirid of this lond
these nat made by human hond
thre cures: honi, milche and salte
drunke in a seashale er dauninge
black-naped, honey-hued
bright of eye, snow-shoed
blossom-tied and fertile
superfete, o moon child
butter churner, larkin
twilight stirrer, malkin
shapeshifter, trickster
pounder of the elixir
cat-legged, ear-pricked
straight-sitter, high-kicked
buddha incarnation
witch-woman’s creation
sleeper under soma
grinder of the broma
riddler rabbit with a horn
lepus crouching in the corn
heather mountain dreamer
thief of milk and creamer
firestarter, forewarner
keeper of the four corners
desert runner, water nymph
existence in a hieroglyph
tinners’ totems, triskele
threepence minted nickel seal
five in front and four behind procession of Holda’s kind
folded in Boudicca’s dress
ally of the sorceress
creature beloved of Melengell
the one who hid beneath her hem
donkey-eared and lion-eyed
horse-head with a lurcher’s stride fully furred, right at birth
running races in her mirth
sailor’s curse, lover’s gift
one who leads stray men adrift
silver-backed and fleet-foot
fugitive in the wheat shoots
bounding with a swift scoot
hunted by the hound’s tooth
wounded by the poet’s bow
queen of other worlds below seated on a silver throne
bleeding from the leg bone
sheltered in the wych elm
messenger from another realm
flame-seduced and fur-singed
teetering on the edge of things
and I sall gae intill aine haire with sorrow, sych and meikle caire and I sall gae in Eostre’s nam ay, whill I cam hom againe
Nidhi Zak/Aria Eipe is a poet, pacifist and fabulist. Auguries of a Minor God, her first collection, was published with Faber & Faber in 2021.
‘Incantation for the Hare’ was inspired by Seamus Heaney’s ‘The Names of the Hare’, his translation of the Middle English poem ‘Les Noms De Un Levre En Englais’.
This incantatory poem formed part of her research project Honey and the Hare, carried out during her tenure as the Rooney Writer Fellow at the Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute, Trinity College Dublin, in Spring 2023.
‘Hare’ © Sarah Gillespie / Bridgeman Images
