Rationale:

For this English creative task, I will be using the poem, Demeter, as a base. The task itself
will be in the form of a narrative, observing the characters Demeter and Persephone from a
3rd person perspective. It will observe the circumstances of Persephone (Demeter’s
daughter) returning to Demeter and Persephone’s return to the Underworld after six months
with her mother. The text type, being a narrative, will allow me to tell this story in a way that
can explore the circumstances around Persephone, how it affects her, Demeter and those
around them. This will allow me to explore the feelings of the characters involved,
specifically the joy and elation felt by both Demeter and Persephone on the latter’s return
and the melancholy experience by both when Persephone has to depart.

As the poem by Carol Ann Duffy begins at the coming of Spring, this text will go through to
when Persephone has to return to the underworld for the first time. It will provide a more
genuine reaction by Demeter and Persephone. The primary audience for this will likely be
that of a casual and younger audience. The narrative will be connected to the poem in its
story and timeline. It will follow the same story of Demeter with the same motherly
undertones and will also begin from the same chronological start as the poem, Persephone’s
return, however it will continue the story after that, making this text a sequel to the poem.
The Departure of Persephone

It had been long since the cold, tough days, when the land lay barren and where no crops
grew. Winter, as it was known, just brought pain, starvation and sadness to them for it
reflected the utterly depressed and hopeless emotions of the Goddess Demeter without her
dear Persephone. Without her daughter, Demeter’s heart lay broken, transforming the land
from green and happy to this harsh wasteland. It was not easy surviving in this climate; as
such, many perished, and many more remained hopeless and destitute, praying that one day
Hades would be persuaded to release Persephone from his Underworld and that happiness
and abundance may once again return to them. Persephone, for her part, remained trapped
and alone but still hopeful, knowing that one day she would return to her mother, bringing
joy to all those whom she loved and bringing warmth to.

At last, after what had felt like an eternity, Persephone once again walked upon the land of
the living, the ground where her bare feet stepped, springing back to life. Demeter, who had
tried everything, not just to bring her beloved daughter back, but also to revive that land
which had so taken the shape of her broken and cold heart, had seen the coming of her child.
In an instance, the melancholic figure that once sat defeated rose to the glory and splendour
of what she had once been and what she had once represented. The earth, the cold hard
ground, the famine and the death had all at once been put on halt as the two figures neared
one another. Where Persephone stepped, where she moved, the air would warm with her
mere presence and where she stepped, ice would melt and plants of all colours, shapes and
sizes would replace the dead earth that had previously sat idle and seemingly impossible to
rejuvenate. As the mother and daughter at last reunited and finally embraced, the land was
again fertile and all was back to how it should be, how it was before. Spring had returned and
all of the famine and pain was replaced by crops in abundance and euphoria.

As the new moon came and the sky remained blue and bright, one would not be mistaken in
thinking that Persephone would forget how she remained bound to Hades and his
otherworldly realm. This rediscovered joy, shared by Persephone, her mother and all those
who shared in this bountiful harvest would, for a time, hide the sad truth about Persephone’s
return: that she had done what was expressly forbidden while in the Underworld. While she
was in the Underworld, she had unintentionally eaten six pomegranate seeds and had tied
herself to the Underworld… and to Hades in marriage.

Persephone was free to remain half the year with her mother in the Upper World but when
the time came, she would have to return to Hades in the Underworld for the remaining six
months before she could return back to her mother.

And so the days continued as they had and the people enjoyed all the good that came from
Persephone and Demeter but as the months went on and the time in which Persephone
would have to leave her mother drew closer, the days once again shortened and the weather,
which had been so warm with joy and excitement slowly turned stale and cold once more.
Winter had not returned just yet but the same melancholy that had once possessed Demeter
once again took its toll on her as she dreaded the day in which her daughter would again
leave her house. A house that would, for six months, stay cold and quiet with one less joyful
soul to occupy it, filling the occupants with love and warmth. Persephone, too, grew quieter
and more solemn, but the warmth that she emanated continued to follow her and her
journeys into the surrounding fields still yielded optimistic sprouts, very much alike to the
hope that Persephone continued to hold on to.

It all continued like this until the day in which Persephone, with teary eyes, withdrew down
the same path she took to reunite with her mother six months ago. Like a replay of that same
event, each step she took filled the land with the same green grass and flowers that were left
there when she came, except this time as a farewell gift to those left in her wake and as a
gentle reminder that she would return and that with her, she would bring that same
happiness and spring which she had previously brought. Despite their sadness, Persephone
and Demeter both knew that they would continue to see one another, but that their
sundering and Persephone’s eventual return, the reunification of their two realms, would
repeat.

However, until that time came, the land was again hard and cold, as winter crept in like a
plague to replace the warmer and happier weather. Like a plague, this winter would starve
people and kill them just like the last but unlike the last, this had a definite end. The sadness
of Demeter had a definite end as eventually, her broken heart would once again be mended.
As sad as she was, she still knew that someday, soon enough, this joy of hers would return to
her and fill her with the same warmth which Spring fills the plants, people and animals with.
As Persephone lay, patiently waiting out her six month long sentence, her mother knew that
there would be a time for her to rejoice, when the warmth that followed her beloved daughter
would return and that the flowers that she left as a parting gift would bloom once more.