THY face is the question of ages; Thy form is the mirror of time; Round thy temples the wisdom of sages; In thy smile the foreknowledge of crime: 'Tis a smile half sneer and half sadness, The lips now curl, now repine -- Ah, gentle precursor of madness, Our Lady Divine. Thou knowest the past and the morrow, And yet in thy far-gazing eyes I see not a hint of man's sorrow, But the world-old contempt of the wise. Time's symbol unchanging thou seemest; Yet the sin-ridden past is thine, Which moulds thy form as thou dreamest, Our Lady Divine. Age has etched out thine eyelids aweary And thy fleeting intangible smile; The eyes that are somber and dreary, Thou Artemis, Circe of guile. Are we ever constrained to surrender, Forever to bow at thy shrine, Most subtle, most cruel, most tender, Our Lady Divine? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...DEVOURER OF NATIONS by STEPHEN VINCENT BENET CONTRA MORTEM: THE WHEEL OF BEING I by HAYDEN CARRUTH MOUNTAIN FARM by MALCOLM COWLEY LETHE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON TO WILLIAM STANLEY BRAITHWAITE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON STUDY FOR A GEOGRAPHICAL TRAIL; 5. MARYLAND by CLARENCE MAJOR I PAY MY DEBT FOR LAFAYETTE AND ROCHAMBEAU' by EDGAR LEE MASTERS |