Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, KOREAN LOVE-SONG, by BENET ROSNY


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

KOREAN LOVE-SONG, by                    
First Line: I have made me a sword, and the water
Last Line: God made its sheath.
Subject(s): Hearts; Kisses; Love


I have made me a sword, and the water
Spat like a snake when I tempered it,
Or a woman whose kisses lie.

The light wells over its blade,
Like moon-shaped gleams on the skin of a pearl,
Or the long streaked skin of a woman.

It moves like a flame; on the hilt
Two flames lock together.
It pants in my hand like a lover
Urgent and thirsty.

I shall make it no sheath;
No wonder of bronze, lipped with gold-work,
No wrap of brocade,
Fit for a mandarin's thigh,
With beads of green crystal and jacinth,—
Delectable.

Long ago, doomed and appointed,
God made its sheath.





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