arts, literature

Emilie Pariel: Diana Wants to Know Why One of Her Nymphs Has Been Turned Into a Tree

Eighteen young Flemish and Dutch authors drew inspiration from the collection held by the Mauritshuis in The Hague. They looked at seventeenth-century paintings through the lens of an alternative history which they then brought to life in short but powerful texts. Emilie Pariel’s poem was inspired by Diana and her Nymphs, painted by Johannes Vermeer. ‘“How is it possible, such a big noise from such a small mouth?” Diana says.’

Diana Wants to Know Why One of Her Nymphs Has Been Turned Into a Tree

in what is now a derelict car park/
musty 1960s office block/
nightclub toilet
in the past the goddess Diana stands in a forest

see that odd duck over there:
a certain Vermeer with an easel
he alights beneath the branches close by
and whistles a tune
‘how is it possible, such a big noise
from such a small mouth?’ Diana says
yes her nymphs nod while sharpening their arrows for the hunt

Diana turns away from Vermeer and slams into a tree
in the bark she recognises a face
‘how is this –/what powers are –/
who’s taken the heartbeat from her veins –/
the wood from her eyes?’

one of the nymphs notes there are only four of them
and indeed, Daphne is missing

Apollo saunters past in shabby leisure wear/
a three-piece suit/
wireless television screen
and whistles a tune
‘how is it possible, such a big noise
from such a small mouth?’ Diana says again

one of the nymphs notes that Apollo is wearing
a laurel wreath on his head
and indeed, Daphne is missing a few twigs

wasn’t it bad enough that that man in the back of his car/
that harassment swept under the carpet/
someone slipping something/
that every painter throughout history
has pictured her and her nymphs naked
their bodies draped across the canvass
so they became what they lacked
Diana shouts after Apollo

beneath the branches close by Vermeer mixes an acid green
to clothe his subjects in dresses

Apollo shrugs his shoulders
female voices take longer to reach him he tells her
to wait a moment
then he says he couldn’t help –/
if she hadn’t been so beau –/he’s only a –/
he gave her the choi–/
if she hadn’t strugg–/ and concludes by saying
‘can’t you see that she’s adored
I wear her like a crown
If you’re that jealous
why not get yourself one too?’

he breaks off one of Daphne’s branches
and throws it at Diana’s feet
and another twig for the friends who meant no harm
the power-hungry bosses/
the avid porn watchers/
the layabouts with little to say/
the virtuoso artists with their muses

he leaves Daphne virtually bare
Woe betide if what he claims as his own
were to ever outgrow him

Vermeer watches it all happen
and depicts four silent nymphs averting their gaze
no Diana and her nymphs shake their heads and draw their bows

• deBuren
• Mauritshuis
• Vermeer