Song of Hermes
This is a song I learned when I was a child, maybe four or so. I had to ask my nurse about many meanings of the words, but I remember it, even to this day. Funny, to teach a child about thievery and disembowelment… *dry chuckle*
Maia’s child with Father Zeus,
Hermes, of the cheeky smile,
Barely was he cradle-borne
When he exerted epic wile.
He stole the cattle from the god
Apollo, god of light and truth,
And bade them walk in backward steps
And hid his own feet in their youth.
The cattle were so safe and sound
Except for one, the sacrifice
That Hermes made, for his own sake,
And took the guts for his device.
With tortoise-shell, he made the lyre
And when Apollo raged and raved
He played the sweetest vibrant song
Which his dear brother thusly craved.
Apollo gave his cattle up
In trade for music’s patronage
And Hermes chose the crossroad way
Instead of playing on the stage…
