Circe by H. D.

Circe is a sorceress featured in Homer's Odyssey. When Odysseus and his crew arrive on her island, she transforms his men into pigs. However, Odysseus is shielded by a herb gifted to him by Hermes, allowing him to withstand her magic and compel her to revert his men back to their original forms. Following this, she becomes his lover, and he spends a year on her island before she assists him in continuing his journey home. H.D.'s poem begins right after he departs.

It’s a retelling, but at its heart, it explores unrequited love and the limits of power. H.D. uses Circe's situation to raise a question that transcends magic: what happens when you can control everything except for the one thing you desire? The myth serves as a vehicle; the emotion is something we all understand.

The repetition serves two purposes. First, it mimics the rhythm of an incantation—Circe is a witch, so her speech has a spell-like quality. Second, it creates irony: each time she says "easy enough," she underscores the fact that the one thing she cannot achieve is reaching Odysseus. By the end, the phrase takes on a bitter tone.

It suggests that Circe's magic is so powerful that she doesn't need to utter any incantations; she only has to think of a spell. Men are drawn to her from "the sharp edges of the earth" purely because she desires it. This highlights a stark contrast with Odysseus: her will has no influence on him whatsoever.

This is H.D.'s most important take on the myth. In Homer's version, Circe changes men as a display of power or animosity. In this retelling, the men desire transformation — they plead for it. Circe agrees out of compassion, not malice. This changes her completely: she isn't a villain but a character who fulfills others' wishes while now yearning for something herself and receiving nothing in return.

They are the men whom Circe has turned into animals, moving around her on the island. H.D. depicts them as an overwhelming sensory experience—barking, snarling, and filling the air with noise. Yet the stanza concludes with "but not your voice," suggesting that all that commotion cannot create the one sound she truly desires. The animals symbolize everything she possesses, which ultimately falls short.

Because she knows he won't return—he has a home, a wife, and a kingdom waiting for him. Asking for just a glance is the least she can hope for, a tiny acknowledgment of her existence. This makes the ending feel both humble and deeply heartbreaking. She's reduced her desire to something she can almost manage to want.

H.D. was a key figure in the Imagism movement, which emphasized clear, concrete imagery and straightforward language instead of the ornate style of Victorian poetry. This poem reflects those principles: it uses specific sensory details — mentioning particular woods, animals, and materials like ivory and onyx — instead of vague expressions of emotion. Additionally, she often drew on Greek mythology to delve into a woman's inner experiences, crafting poems from the viewpoints of figures like Helen and Eurydice.