Classic and Contemporary Poetry
MELISSA, by ROBERT LOUIS BURGESS First Line: Melissa / is the sweet core of the apple of a young man's dream Last Line: Save us from love! | ||||||||
Melissa Is the sweet core of the apple of a young man's dream Of a perfect woman. Melissa Is pretty, not beautiful. (God save us from Beauty -- Pedestaled on granite, Molten in red-white furnace hearts, Smiling in hell.) Melissa Is charming faithless. (God save us from Faith -- An acid, an eye that stares, A curse upon transitory joys, A brazen curse blaring from trumpets.) Melissa Is neither too old nor too young. (God save us from Youth -- Acrid chemistry, sick yeast, Rumbling, earthquaking, A mad elephant! And God save us from Age -- A supreme white statue carved of a cliff Gazing out over the pale serenities of an ancient sea.) Melissa Is quick-witted, but has no brain. (God save us from Brain -- A steaming corruption that befogs the stars, A massive stealthiness, A sneaking glacier, A panther screaming in a mountain cave.) Melissa Giggles, but does not laugh. (God save us from Laughter -- A cracked obelisk, A chattering of teeth, A grinding of bones, A scared whisper in a lonely night.) Melissa Kisses and plays, but does not love, Does not love, Does not love. Melissa Does not love. God save us from Love! O dear God in Heaven, save us from Love! Save us from Love! Save us from Love! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TO A MAN WORKING HIS WAY THROUGH THE CROWD by MARIANNE MOORE JANUARY by WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS BEETHOVEN'S THIRD SYMPHONY by RICHARD HOVEY THIRTEEN WAYS OF LOOKING AT A BLACKBIRD by WALLACE STEVENS A GOOD PLAY by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON HUNTING HORNS by GUILLAUME APOLLINAIRE EMBLEMS OF LOVE: 33. LOVE KEEPS ALL THINGS IN ORDER by PHILIP AYRES |
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