Helen herself seems almost ready for this sacrifice--at least, for
the immolation of herself before this greatest love of Achilles, his
dedication to "his own ship" and the figurehead, "an idol
or eidolon . . . a mermaid, Thetis upon the prow."

Did her eyes slant in the old way?

was she Greek or Egyptian?

had some Phoenician sailor wrought her?



was she oak-wood or cedar?

had she been cut from an awkward block

of ship-wood at the ship-builders,



and afterwards riveted there,

or had the prow itself been shaped

to her mermaid body,



curved to her mermaid hair?

was there a dash of paint

in the beginning, in the garment-fold,



did the blue afterwards wear away?

did they re-touch her arms, her shoulders?

did anyone touch her ever?



Had she other zealot and lover,

or did he alone worship her?

did she wear a girdle of sea-weed



or a painted crown?  how often

did her high breasts meet the spray,

how often dive down?