Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE COOUETRY OF MEN, by MAURICE MAGRE


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE COOUETRY OF MEN, by                    
First Line: We too, no less, have all our little arts
Last Line: Both hide their viewless hearts forevermore.
Subject(s): Dreams; Hearts; Life; Women; Nightmares


WE too, no less, have all our little arts,
Our pencils, carmines, khols and brushes too,
And in the glass our precious selves we view,
And with gay subtlety arrange our hearts.
The women their complexion scrutinise,
A mark, a blemish, bluish veins that rise,
And skilfully the smallest wrinkle hide.
Thus we contemplate strictly, on our side,
Each form of life that may affect the mind.
We ponder tears and laughter both designed
For the minute and the woman we would please.
We show ourselves bright, sombre or at ease;
We are tricked out so neatly, moulded so
With conscious dreams or some false passion's glow,
With such feigned fervor and apparent heat,
Abandon worn like rouge to gull the street,
That in this phantom of disdain or woe
No man the true and hidden heart may know.
Ah, we're alike! Each wears the mask each made!
With outstretched arms we wander in the shade
Which we ourselves have woven with our might.
She makes the eye more dark, the throat more white,
I cast my thought in forms unknown before.
Each paints with vigor or the heart or face,
One with fair words, one with a pencil's grace --
Both hide their viewless hearts forevermore.





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