Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ON THE TERRACE, by ELMER GUSTAFSON


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ON THE TERRACE, by                    
First Line: It is not good to laugh at love,' I said
Last Line: And laughed ... Her brittle laughter broke and fell.


"It is not good to laugh at love," I said.
She laughed. Her brittle laughter broke and fell
Tinkling between the terrace and the stars.
"Look," I said. The cadence of the dance
Came softly; and I tossed my cigaret
That arched in fire and spattered on the turf.
"Of no more moment than that waning spark
Is love to your regard. The plucked-out heart
Brought on a salver like the Baptist's head
Is but a tid-bit for your teeth to crunch.
Terrible in beauty, you speak doom,
And lightnings lurk within your curtained eyes.
I am but one who speak in suppliance here,
Yet in my voice the voice of multitudes.
Forever down the echoing vault of time
Comes the ecstatic, the incredulous cry
Of love that wakes and knows its strength, and beats
With fervid fury at Life's warded gates.
And when she comes -- and when the maiden comes,
Her eyes sweet stores of virgin wonderment,
With cool, swift fingers to unbar the door,
Love, finding love, knows love's rich recompense.
"Hear me," I said, and took her unshrinking hand:
"O radiant virgin, no dark after-shame
Shall silence me. I who have known desire
Have seen you instant-poised, your cupped young breasts
Guarding their honey savour; have seen the stain
Of innocent guile upon your red ripe mouth;
Your moonlight mantled cheek, your shadowed hair,
Your body challenging the noose of Death --
I must speak out, I must reveal my pain,
Fending the frosty fingertips of age
Till I am answered." She recalled her gaze
From some far flight; drew close her foamy scarf.
And laughed ... Her brittle laughter broke and fell.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net