Here is another painting and a poem I wrote inspired by it.
--Edward Burne-Jones, The Beguiling of Merlin (1874)
The Beguiling of Merlin
(after a painting by Edward Burne-Jones)
Bare-footed, she slithers above him,
his book of magic held like a platter,
a phallic body, feline fingers,
phallic nose, feminine lips,
her neck an enormous temptation,
snakes on her head, her dress a swirl--
blue-green skin, sadistic red hair:
she's the one for him.
Gray-haired Merlin has lost his beard,
sick with disappointment: gaunt, weak
tomcat eyes, a young man's fingers,
he wants her to want him again.
She took his wisdom & will--
excitement in the forest,
the overwhelming white flowers.
The hawthorn tree envelops him.
--from The Age of the Mother
(Laughing Coyote, 1992,
Copyright © Clifton Snider)