Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, TOWARD THE PIRAEUS: 2, by HILDA DOOLITTLE


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TOWARD THE PIRAEUS: 2, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: I loved you
Last Line: So simple a word as love.
Alternate Author Name(s): H. D.; Aldington, Richard, Mrs.
Subject(s): Bible; Love


I LOVED you:
men have writ and women have said
they loved,
but as the Pythoness stands by the altar,
intense and may not move,

till the fumes pass over;
and may not falter nor break,
till the priest has caught the words
that mar or make
a deme or a ravaged town;

so I, though my knees tremble,
my heart break,
must note the rumbling,
heed only the shuddering
down in the fissure beneath the rock
of the temple floor;

must wait and watch
and may not turn nor move,
nor break from my trance to speak
so slight, so sweet,
so simple a word as love.





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