Now that I have cooled to you Let there be gold of tarnished masonry, Temples soothed by the sun to ruin That sleep utterly. Give me hand for the dances, Ripples at Philae, in and out, And lips, my Lesbian, Wall flowers that once were flame. Your hair is my Carthage And my arms the bow, And our words arrows To shoot the stars Who from that misty sea Swarm to destroy us. But you there beside me -- Oh how shall I defy you, Who wound me in the night With breasts shining Like Venus and like Mars? The night that is shouting Jason When the loud eaves rattle As with waves above me Blue at the prow of my desire. O, prayers in the dark! O, incense to Poseidon! Calm in Atlantis. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...RIDDLE ON THE LETTER H (1) by CATHERINE MARIA FANSHAWE STRANGE HURT [SHE KNOWS] by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES OUR STATE by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER ROBERT BURNS by WILLIAM ALEXANDER (1567-1640) ON THE DEATH OF CYNTHIA'S HORSE by PHILIP AYRES |