Oh, Creusa

a poem

Oh, Creusa

July 15, 2026

Wife of Aeneas, noble daughter-in-law to Venus,

faithful, loyal, true.

Knowing your fate, to die in the sack of Troy,

accepting the gods’ intent for you.

Strong enough to let your husband go,

the man whose love for you - and yours for him -

brought forth a son, Ascanius,

and then to lose him, too, that awful night

when treachery, vengeance, bitterness, rage

and venal jealousy laid waste

the might, the beauty and the majesty of Illium.

What was all that to you, a woman

cherishing her life of love and tenderness,

her family and her future - bright -

in Troy’s traditions, and the simple life

apart from weaponry, intrigues and war?

But it was not to be.

The gods decreed great strife,

destruction followed, death and misery.

Yet you released Aeneas at the end,

And dear Ascanius as well, to venture on,

to find new life, new love, new purpose

after your demise.

That you, in that dark tragedy,

had such a heart to give that gift of love -

it seems that in addition to the epic Virgil wrote

in honor of Aeneas, praising all his deeds,

we should remember you, and what you did,

O Creusa,

and dedicate some lines, at least,

to you.