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The Death of Mata Hari by ~philosophe:iconphilosophe:

Categories Literature > Poetry > General Poetry > Open




The Death of Mata Hari


Her eyes

Do not hide behind
Any blindfold
As they stare

Down

Twelve men holding
Rifles while the
Wind blows
And
Margaretha
Listens to the charges
Read against
Mata Hari
And at the same time
M'greet's memory
Briefly surfaces
"So I took to flight;

But now how
Am I to earn
My bread? I say
To you who have

Eyes, who have ears-
Do not injure our
Children or our men."

She blows a kiss and

She tries

To grasp some essential question
Until the twelve men answer

Sharply.

And the captain lifts
His pistol to the body
And fires one last
Shot.
©2002-2009 ~philosophe
:iconphilosophe:

Author's Comments

This will have to be a lengthy description...

Mata Hari, for those not familiar with her, was born Margaretha Geertruda Zelle, in Holland (I think). Her parents called her M'greet when she was a child. She married an officer, and he was transferred to Indonesia, where Margaretha picked up a lot of the local styles of dance. When she and her husband divorced, she went to Paris, assumed the stage name of Mata Hari (meaning sun, literally, eye of the day), and began performing. She was marketed as a having been raised in an Indonesian temple and she performed variations on the dances she had learned. Most of her act was done in a state pretty close to nudity (which isn't really relevant to the poem, just what she's known for). When the First World War broke out, she was sleeping with both German and French officers. The French eventually tried her as a German spy (a double agent, because she had been hired by the French to spy on Germans) and killed her. Historians still argue the validity of the charges, but many believe that the Germans (who suspected her as a French spy) framed her.

Other notes-
Regarding the "Twelve" men of the firing squad, I have no idea about the actual number, though 12 is not arbitrary or a guess.
"So I took... My bread?" is from the German folk tale Bremen Town-Musicians.
"I say... children or our men." is from a Hindu burial hymn in the Rgveda.
The structure is loosely based on traditional Indonesian music, so I'd suggest downloading it to view the proper spacing...

Comments always appreciated, usually returned.

Comments


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:iconfreakera:
~freakera Jul 30, 2002, 6:53:39 PM
Im sorry, but Im in awe. This poem is wonderful. Thats all I can say. Ill come back later and see if theres some things I could say about it that may improve upon it. For now, its beautiful, and the way you told her execution put everything in slow motion in my head. answering with bullets.

+fav
:iconzelle:
~zelle Jul 30, 2002, 7:09:56 PM
Wow - I like this poem on two completely different levels.

1) The poem itself is gorgeous. The spacings are wonderful, you can almost feel the rhythm of the music as you read it. Thank you for providing background information to fill out the little parts of the poem like the german folk tale... it makes the poem ever so much more real.

2) Thank you for a beautiful piece of writing that has meanings for me that it has for few people... you see, Margaretha Geertruda Zelle is actually a great-great aunt of mine. I've done some research on my own into the life of my infamous relative but this is a simply wonderful thing to see.

+fav

--
:bulletblue: "It does not disturb me to play a god, it disturbs me to play a god badly" :bulletblue:

:trout: + :stab: = :sushi:
:sushi: + :chew: = :w00t:
:iconeluzion:
~eluzion Jul 30, 2002, 7:59:31 PM
12 as in disciples perhaps? i love the structure of this piece, the way that you lined the words up in a file as if they too, were facing charges....i love the separation of name as one version of self is listening to the charges of the other version....this is an incredible piece....a favorite.
:icontragic-prose:
~tragic-prose Jul 31, 2002, 12:57:24 PM
Beautiful as always. To me.. what I get from it... is reflection and sadness.. but pride. I think the sadness is coming from myself tho... how I feel that her life ended. I love it. :) (Smile)

--
"The times it hurts when you cry
The times it hurts just to breathe
And then it seems like there's no-one left
And all you want is to sleep"
:iconwildmonky:
=wildmonky Jul 31, 2002, 1:25:35 PM
Yes, that's what I'm getting with the 12. An allusion to the diciples. I personally don't care it, but it's still nicely done.
The form of this is pleasing to the eyes, as it is pleasing to read (I differentiate [even though I can't spell it] between reading and seeing), and I like how this is coupled with the "I say To you who have Eyes, who have ears-" lines.

I also like the three references to her her three names, as if they were three aspects of the same woman. Possibly an allusion to Fate? Or am I getting to literature here? :D (Big Grin)

Anyway, I like this.


--
Stile's going after Hulk in 1A!
:icongeocko:
~geocko Jul 31, 2002, 6:31:33 PM
I like it a lot yay, good job. Hey and guess what, where both in the daily favorites :: high fives himself and you :: :) (Smile) ...lol im silli. but excellent job.
~ Geocko / Brian
:icondeejbard:
`deejbard Aug 2, 2002, 9:01:23 PM
I think it is a good poem, though I actually like it more when every line falls below the previous one ... it all tumbles down the page from thought to thought. So I just won't download for proper spacing. ;) (Wink)

:iconteop:
~teop Aug 15, 2002, 5:00:53 AM
striking. the description is very helpful for those of so many of us who are ignorant of history.. (like me). your words never lose her sense of strength, and it is that ability to convey emotion through words which defines true poetry. so its good in other words

btw. i live in austin too.. and write philosophical poetry.. small world huh?
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