Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, EROS, by ROBERT SEYMOUR BRIDGES


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EROS, by             Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Why hast thou nothing in thy face?
Last Line: Hath cared to look upon thy face.
Alternate Author Name(s): Bridges, Robert+(2)
Subject(s): Cupid; Love; Eros


Why hast thou nothing in thy face?
Thou idol of the human race,
Thou tyrant of the human heart,
The flower of lovely youth thou art;
Yea, and that standest in thy youth
An image of eternal Truth,
With thy exuberant flesh so fair,
That only Pheidias might compare,
Ere from his chaste marmoreal form
Time had decayed the colours warm;
Like to his gods in thy proud dress,
Thy starry sheen of nakedness.

Surely the body is thy mind,
For in thy face is nought to find,
Only thy soft unchristen'd smile,
That shadows neither love nor guile,
But shameless will and power immense,
In secret sensuous innocence.

O king of joy, what is thy thought?
I dream thou knowest it is nought,
And wouldst in darkness come, but thou
Makest the light where'er thou go.
Ah yet no victim of thy grace
None who e'er long'd for thy embrace,
Hath cared to look upon thy face.





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