Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ANTINOMY, by GEORGE HERBERT CLARKE



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ANTINOMY, by                    
First Line: There is no truth!
Last Line: This evil thing ye publish her woman-eyes disprove.
Subject(s): Disdain; Lies; Love; Truth; Women; Scorn


THERE is no truth!
If here it ever dwelt, now it is dead;
Cant and shrewd Custom flourish in its stead;—
There is no truth!
Her heart is holy-pure, and speaketh very sooth.

There is no health!
For all men with a sore disease are smit,
Past help or hope, and all men die of it;
There is no health!
Her broken body shineth with unimagined wealth.

There is no light,—
But doubt, and secret dread, and shadow-dreams;
Woeful we wander, following phantom gleams;—
There is no light!
And yet a homelit haven unfoldeth to her sight.

There is no faith!
Our sages disavow the ancient tales,
Holding that when the breath fails, being fails;
There is no faith!
Let them persuade themselves! It is not so she saith.

There is no love,—
But only vanity, or passion, or pretence,
Self-interest, instinctive social sense;—
There is no love!
This evil thing ye publish her woman-eyes disprove.





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