Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE POWER OF LOVE, by SOPHOCLES


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE POWER OF LOVE, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: My children, know love is not love alone
Last Line: Shatters all purposes of men and gods.
Subject(s): Love - Nature Of


MY children, know Love is not Love alone,
But in her name lie many names concealed:
For she is Death, imperishable Force,
Desire unmixed, wild Frenzy, Lamentation;
In her are summed all impulses that drive
To Violence, Energy, Tranquillity.
Deep in each living breast the Goddess sinks,
And all become her prey; the tribes that swim,
The fourfoot tribes that pace upon the earth,
Harbour her; and in birds her wing is sovereign,
In beasts, in mortal men, in gods above.
What god but wrestles with her and is thrown?
If I may tell -- and truth is right to tell --
She rules the heart of Zeus without a spear,
Without a sword. Truly the Cyprian
Shatters all purposes of men and gods.





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