Once the morningstar, a harbinger of dawn
his skin’s a woman’s, alabaster bright
he rose, beloved, outshining other stars
His voice, a gospel, tempting, kissed, the sky
eclipsed the night and veiled the moon in silk.
We loved him most, the bearer of day’s light,
but in his pride, he challenged day, he dared
still lost, defeated by the brilliant sun,
and burnt, he fell to rule the underworld,
Below, he calls for war, he sends his beasts
to tempt, infect us with disease; With gold
he bribes and if you ever see his star
as emerald ingrained inside your eye
it’s fall from grace, a splint of Lucifer.
Inferno by Franz Stuck
When I read the prompt by Karin on fall at toads, I went all fell and Paradise Lost. I will link this to Poetry Pantry as well.
Björn Rudbergs writings 
Very cool sonnet, Bjorn– and wonderful close– the emerald splint somehow so broken compared to true light of growth and sun. Thanks so much for partixipating in the prompt! K. Sorry for typos– on phone.
I though of the ice-queen’s mirror a little there… 🙂
I am not so familiar with that, but can certainly see it–emerald pretty dazzling but nothing like grass. Thanks, Bjorn.
Wow! Those last three lines!
Nice twist at the end.
This is a dark, dark picture of humanity, I think!
perfect picture of a fall from grace
A famous tale beautifully told.
How well this reads with such beautiful word play.
Like the way you’ve narrated the story..drew me in.
A splint of Lucifer itself sounds so very dark – enjoyed BR, thought I would also visit 😊
My biblical knowledge is minimal but in many things in life it is good to remember that the devil was once an angel – and we all have the capacity to fall from grace and succumb to the dark and stop shining..perhaps however there is always a glimmer of hope for redemption
wonderful narrative poem, Bjorn.
Love this – its dark, its intense.. and has all the elements of a beautifully haunting poem 🙂 Bravo.
Ah, the ultimate fall. :ucifer, bringing of light… your first six lines describe someone/thing so beautiful, when you reveal to us it is the identity it’s a bit startling. Beautifully composed, Bjorn.
Oh! Splendid! A “Tyger Tyger Burning Bright” kind of poem. In the strength of its imagery I say goodbye to my Land of OZ, my emeralds and my symbol of a healing world. Everything with that glint of Green is now the devil’s money brewed of angel’s fall and evil bargains. Wow!
“his skin’s a woman’s” … I love that this is someone who appears to be a woman but has a man inside of her. And then you speak of this person as a man throughout, even though by all appearances, this is a woman.
“His voice, a gospel, tempting” … Love this.
“veiled the moon in silk” … Gorgeous.
“if you ever see his star
as emerald ingrained inside your eye” … Sheesh. This is stunning. I definitely think Satan appears as a woman a lot of the time … and certainly dressed in silk, maybe even appearing as the moon. This is just exquisite, Bjorn! I love this poem. Scary too, because what if we don’t stop to look in the mirror at our own eyes? We might never know that they’re shade has changed.
I thought of Lucifer almost like Narcissus.. a youthful boy… almost androgynous.. but yes then also a woman… and the morningstar is also the name of Venus… so the myth of Lucifer is certainly interesting in its contradictions.
I’m sure you’re quite right. I hadn’t thought of this before, but yes, that makes perfect sense that he would appear as a beautiful young man/boy. I didn’t know that, about Venus.
If you google Lucifer and Venus, you find a lot of interesting myths.. 🙂
Perfect example of the classic fall, classically executed, and chilling in both its allegory and its immediacy and truth.
he calls for war, he sends his beasts
to tempt, infect us with disease; With gold
he bribes
Somehow the progress turned sinister as opposed to an earlier care of innocence.Great sonnet Bjorn!
Hank
Powerfully written…those last lines are menacing and pack a powerful punch!
I love the title, and the description of him as he once was……..lyrically beautiful. Then his downfall, as sadly happens all too often. A stark contrast. Well done, Bjorn.
you amaze me in your sonnet writing ability. they never seem contrived, or singsongy.
“in his pride’, ‘he challenged the day’ ~ don’t the bravest of us do it?…the balance is only condition….otherwise, we create addiction….
wonderfully written.
He outshone all the others – a lesson to be learned, for sure. And repeated by us,time and again. Pride, etc, etc. Wonderfully “retold”
The morning star is Venus and I like to think of Venus as a woman of love. Roses are associated with her. Lucifer would steal light as he only wants darkness to rule and scare all dwellers and I think he still roams today.
Paradise lost, an an interesting take on the prompt
Have a good Sunday
Much love…
Another fantastic sonnet, Björn … that closing line: epic.
Your words … just never fail to enthrall.
Lucifer’s splint…I think we all have a piece of it at times. Powerful piece.
He is the false godlight of ego, that dawn without a sun. Yes.
Wow! You saved the best phrase for last – perfect way to conclude this chilling portrayal of the fallen angel.
Ah, THAT fall! You have described it so well, beginning with the beauty of the pre-falled liglht-bearer. I am always impressed with the consistently high quality of your prolific writing.
an old tale retold well – the Lucifer that was Light fell victim to his own hype, had too much pride and so light became darkness, as do we all when we feel we are greater than our Source.
A sad tale well told. Bravo, Bjorn!
This was scary, perfect for Holloween!
Definitely has that Milton feel to it. Great poem.
Loved your imagery!
Those falls from grace – where would poets be without them? Wonderfully rendered, Björn!
This sonnet works so well, classical but with such a natural flow. I did a sonnet workshop at Keats house but haven’t posted the poems from that day. Yours are inspiring.