The Tour

The majolica swan is a letdown.  Though it’s true

that in the story, a bird tows the hero’s boat to shore,

in the wake of two lost wars this is not perhaps

the most effective myth to encourage

the flowering of a dominion’s symbols.

The creature selected is of key importance: it may be

embroidered in gold on red silk, onto chair covers and bedspreads;

centuries later its impact may be decisive, as much on

the takings of cheese shops and dairy-farms

as on ski-lift traffic in the Southern Alps.

The tour begins here. The website did not limit

the time spent in each room, but here we’re being

fobbed off with an audio-guide. The bed’s strangling tendrils,

the tapestry’s oppressive detail, you can almost feel

the gothic getting under our skin.                     

If we could choose between awe and slaughter,

we ought to banish war to paintings.

If, though, it’s between our mother and the woods,

whichever has less sympathy should be the one to raise us.

This is the Singers’ Hall, behind it the kitchen

complete with built-in stove and a special basin

for fish. Lastly, we exit the ill-conceived symbol

by way of the gift shop.

©Anna Bentley 2022 for the English translation