Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, SAPPHO AND PHAON: 18. TO PHAON, by MARY DARBY ROBINSON



Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

SAPPHO AND PHAON: 18. TO PHAON, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Why art thou changed? O phaon! Tell me why?
Last Line: Ah! Why is rapture so allied to pain?


Why art thou changed? O Phaon! tell me why?
Love flies reproach, when passion feels decay;
Or, I would paint the raptures of that day,
When, in sweet converse, mingling sigh with sigh,
I marked the graceful languor of thine eye
As on a shady bank entranced we lay:
O! Eyes! whose beamy radiance stole away
As stars fade trembling from the burning sky!
Why art thou changed? dear source of all my woes!
Though dark my bosom's tint, through every vein
A ruby tide of purest luster flows,
Warmed by thy love, or chilled by thy disdain;
And yet no bliss this sensate being knows;
Ah! why is rapture so allied to pain?





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...



Home: PoetryExplorer.net