Triumph of Bacchus and Ariadne

In this luminous mythological poem, Michael Field reimagines the ancient story of Ariadne, abandoned by Theseus on the shores of Naxos and discovered by the god Bacchus in her despair. What follows is her transformation from forlorn mortal bride to divine consort, a triumph of desire over abandonment, of immortality over grief. The verse moves with wine-dark grace through the encounter between the god of revelry and the woman he crowns with stars, rendering their union as both sensual awakening and spiritual transfiguration. Field's characteristic lush classical scholarship illuminates every stanza, yet never obscures the raw emotional core: a woman reclaimed from ruin by a love that refuses to let her remain lost. The poem pulses with the rhythms of ancient ritual, of processions and crowning glory, yet speaks with startling intimacy to modern ears.