Our new monthly theme is Love & Beauty. Perfect for introducing you to one of your inspirational muses, Erato.
Erato, Muse of Lyrical Poetry, Charles Meynier, 1800
The name Erato means “desired” or “lovely,” and she is the muse of lyric poetry, especially love poetry! (Perfect for Valentine’s Day, too.)
In the Orphic hymn to the Muses, Erato is the Muse who charms our vision.
She’s been associated since the Renaissance with a wreath of roses and myrtle, and she holds a lyre and sometimes a golden arrow or a torch when accompanied by Eros.
If you see Simon Vouet’s interpretations, you’ll find two turtle doves by her feet eating seeds.
Poetry Prompt
Explore how all kinds of love fuels creative work. Consider romantic, platonic, familial, or self-love! Or, write a love poem to something unexpected, like your morning coffee ritual or the way light falls through your window. You might like to use the graphic from Little DIY about “romanticizing your ordinary life” as inspiration! You could also revisit the images that have classically been associated with Erato (see above), and put them in your poem.
Photo by Bundo Kim, Creative Commons, via Unsplash.
- Learning by Poetry: Dans la Nuit - March 13, 2026
- Poetry Prompt: Meet Your Muse Terpsichore - March 9, 2026
- What Is a Simile? - February 23, 2026
Maureen says
I thought I had dropped here the poem I wrote this morning but as it is not here in the comments, I’ll try leaving it again. It is in couplets (I’ve marked where every line ends).
Prescription for Tea
She brews tea in the prettiest of pots, /
naturally. She knows to tend it //
carefully, like love. Left too long /
to steep, the leaves, always loose, //
never bagged, produce too-strong /
a taste that does no honor to her//
bone-china cups with rims of gold, /
or delicate bite-size fancies waiting //
to be dunked. When she gets it right,/
— her tea never mixed with milk, //
the color of caramel or honey, the /
only way he likes it — she’ll think his //
every sip another kiss bestowed /
before he passes on the sweets.
L.L. Barkat says
Oh, Maureen. What fun! 🙂
I just love the sound of “tea in the prettiest of pots” and “to steep, the leaves, always loose.”
Maureen says
I had you, of course, in mind when I wrote those lines.