Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, GODDESS, by DOROTHY O'GARA


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

GODDESS, by                    
First Line: Love was my taper. To this shrine of mine
Last Line: I knelt too near the flame -- and I am blind!
Subject(s): Goddesses & Gods; Hearts; Love; Mythology; Shrines


Love was my taper. To this shrine of mine
Men came -- as they have come since first the flame
Began to burn -- to lay their offerings
Of rarest perfumes, costly frankincense,
Here at my feet for me, their deity.
Such sacrifice as this was mine to wring
From each new heart that to my altar rail
Approached with yearning in its wistful wings;
While I, a goddess, drunk with beauty's fire,
Breathed in the incense from their offerings.

A goddess, yes! But even hearts divine
Have in them something of the human stuff
That makes them lust for homage. So, one day,
In eagerness to see the gifts they brought,
I leaned from out my niche, beyond the line
Which separates the woman from the god.
There I beheld two eyes so full of love
I knelt too near the flame -- and I am blind!





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