WHEN Daphne's angel, shamming death, Is faithless, never twit In syllables of angry breath The child for want of wit. Reproach her in the cunning way Was shown for thee of old: If speech be silvern, wise men say That silence shall be gold. 'Tis best to lift that ornament Upon the mantelpiece, And note how metal, wisely bent, Can shape a faun of Greece. While praising in thy heart the curves Thou fondlest with thine eyes, Keep watch for Daphne's ebbing nerves And clover-coming sighs. Be patient. Thou at last shalt see Her bosom's ragged tide, Growing weaker by the strength of thee, In loveliness subside. She touches wistfully the faun, To tell that in her south Thy star is up. Accept the dawn, And drink it on her mouth! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...BALLAD OF HUMAN LIFE by THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES THE OLD WOMAN by JOSEPH CAMPBELL BEFORE ACTION by WILLIAM NOEL HODGSON SONNET: 22. TO THE SAME [CYRIACK SKINNER] by JOHN MILTON IN HONOR OF TAFFY TOPAZ by CHRISTOPHER DARLINGTON MORLEY CRICKET ON THE HEARTH by PIERRE JEAN DE BERANGER |