The mysteries remain,
I keep the same
cycle of seed-time
and of sun and rain;
Demeter in the grass,
I multiply,
renew and bless
Iacchus in the vine;
I hold the law,
I keep the mysteries true,
the first of these
to name the living, dead;
I am red wine and bread.
I keep the law,
I hold the mysteries true,
I am the vine,
the branches, you
and you.
—H.D.
"The Mysteries: Renaissance Choros",[2] or "The Mysteries",[3] is a poem by American poet H.D. first published in 1931, as the concluding poem of her poetry anthology Red Roses for Bronze.[4] Inspired by the Eleusinian Mysteries,[5] the poem concerns a ritual meant to resurrect Adonis.[6]