Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE LOVE OF DECEIT, by CHARLES BAUDELAIRE Poem Explanation Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Whenever I see you pass, dear indolent one Last Line: Hail, mask, dear counterfeit! I bow, adore! Subject(s): Duplicity; Love; Deceit | ||||||||
Whenever I see you pass, dear indolent one, Amidst the surge of music in breaking waves, Dangling your somnolent and slow allure, Flaunting the ennui of your moody gaze, When under the yellow gaslights I observe Your pale forehead in a delicate artifice Of torches that kindle an illusive dawn, And your eyes like a portrait's cryptic glance entice, I muse: How lovely she is, how fresh, bizarre! The massive tower of memory looms above And regally crowns her. Bruised as a fallen peach, Her heart is ripe as her body for subtlest love. I think of mellowed savors of autumn fruit, A burial urn no rite of tears yet showers, Scents that evoke the distant oases of dreams, Caressing pillows, harvests of gathered flowers. I know there are eyes like wells of melancholy That hold no secrets rich as our surmise, Jewelless coffers, locket-reliquaries, Deeper and emptier than yourselves, O Skies! Shall not the semblance alone suffice for me, To rejoice my heart, since Verity I forswore? What matters stupidity or indifference? Hail, mask, dear counterfeit! I bow, adore! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HOW TO KNOW LOVE FROM DECEIT by WILLIAM BLAKE TO FINE LADY WOULD-BE by BEN JONSON LINES WRITTEN IN ROUSSEAU'S LETTERS OF AN ITALIAN NUN. by GEORGE GORDON BYRON TALE: 9. ARABELLA by GEORGE CRABBE TO CASTARA, OF TRUE DELIGHT by WILLIAM HABINGTON OJISTOH by EMILY PAULINE JOHNSON THE DECEIT by HARRY HIBBARD KEMP A VOYAGE TO CYTHERA by CHARLES BAUDELAIRE |
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