Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE ADORED ONE: 4 by JAMES OPPENHEIM

First Line: YOU PLAY THE QUEEN
Last Line: CROWNS BUT MUFFLE THE NIGHT-DREAM OF YOUR HAIR.
Subject(s): WOMEN;
YOU play the queen:
But I remember a simple girl singing in the dairy:
Men were tamed by her sweetness.

You crown your hair with paste:
Have you forgotten the radiance of your undrugged eyes,
And the quickness of your smile?

I only say: Be yourself ...
What in your play has reached down into the crater of your human heart,
Or walked the sun-clear peaks of your spirit?
Be demon: be angel: oh, be woman!
Queenship is but a garment hiding your glory:
Crowns but muffle the night-dream of your hair.



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