WHAT longer need hath she of loveliness Whom Death has parted from her lord's caress? Of glimmering robes like rainbow-tangled mist, Of gleaming glass or jewels on her wrist, Blossoms or fillet-pearls to deck her head, Or jasmine garlands to adorn her bed? Put by the mirror of her bridal days. ... Why needs she now its counsel or its praise, Or happy symbol of the henna leaf For hands that know the comradeship of grief, Red spices for her lips that drink of sighs, Or black collyrium for her weeping eyes? Shatter her shining bracelets, break the string Threading the mystic marriage-beads that cling Loth to desert a sobbing throat so sweet, Unbind the golden anklets on her feet, Divest her of her azure veils and cloud Her living beauty in a living shroud. Nay, let her be! ... what comfort can we give For joy so frail, for hope so fugitive? The yearning pain of unfulfilled delight, The moonless vigils of her lonely night, For the abysmal anguish of her tears, And flowering springs that mock her empty years? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...LOVE IS LIKE A DIZZINESS by JAMES HOGG THE TENT ON THE BEACH: 2. THE WRECK OF RIVERMOUTH by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER THE PAVANE by DORIS ELLEN BIESTERFELD ALL'S WELL by WILLIAM ALLEN BUTLER TOWARDS DEMOCRACY: PART 3. THE WORD DEMOCRACY by EDWARD CARPENTER IF LIFE BE BITTER by RHYS CARPENTER |