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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
TO RODIN'S STATUE OF AN OLD COURTESAN, by GERTRUDE CALLAGHAN First Line: Lean, shrunken limbs that were so finely formed Last Line: Your splendid soul! Subject(s): Courtesans; Old Age | |||
Lean, shrunken limbs that were so finely formed, Poor sagging breasts so meager now and gaunt, Grim, withered cheeks and eyes so piteous What is your want? Is it a veil to mercifully shroud Not shame but only beauty dispossessed? Life up your head and meet their staring scorn Who have not guessed Of ecstasy like yours, who have not fought The tug of human passion that you knew, Nor felt the urge that dragged you to the depths And blindly slew. I only know the beauty that once lived Part of your flesh; the courage and the fire Within your eyes; the vast, stupendous force Of your desire. I still can feel the swiftness of those limbs Too fleet for timid ways; I see the line They missed, hair breadth, it lies between The human and divine. Sit not as though in shame before their eyes, So great but so misguided in your role, And when I pass look up that I may see Your splendid soul! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...AT EIGHTY I CHANGE MY VIEW by DAVID IGNATOW FAWN'S FOSTER-MOTHER by ROBINSON JEFFERS THE DEER LAY DOWN THEIR BONES by ROBINSON JEFFERS OLD BLACK MEN by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON A WINTER ODE TO THE OLD MEN OF LUMMUS PARK, / MIAMI, FLORIDA by DONALD JUSTICE AFTER A LINE BY JOHN PEALE BISHOP by DONALD JUSTICE TO HER BODY, AGAINST TIME by ROBERT KELLY SONG FROM A COUNTRY FAIR by LEONIE ADAMS |
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