Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE SPECTURE OF THE ROSE, by THEOPHILE GAUTIER



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE SPECTURE OF THE ROSE, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Those marble-lidded eyes unclose, / wake from thy sleep's angelic trance!
Last Line: "e'en kings might envy for its bliss!"
Alternate Author Name(s): Theo, Le Bon
Subject(s): Flowers; Roses


Those marble-lidded eyes unclose,
Wake from thy sleep's angelic trance!
I am the Spectre of a Rose
That decked thy beauty in the dance.
Thy fingers plucked me from my stem
Wet with the dews of yester e'en
And thou didst wear me, like a gem,
Amid the ball-room's dazzling scene.

My life's brief summer thou didst blight—
My ghost away thou canst not chase:
'Twill flit untiring all the night
Around thy softly-pillowed face.
I claim no masses for my death,
No De Profundis slowly wailed:
My spirit is a fragrant breath
From Paradise itself exhaled.

Torn from the world, I did not sigh,
Nor could thy fondest lovers crave
A happier death than mine to die—
Thy snow-white bosom was my grave:
And on that alabaster tomb
A Poet wrote, with loving kiss:
"Here lies a Rose, whose early doom
E'en kings might envy for its bliss!"





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