Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ODI PROFANUM, by JOHN COWPER POWYS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ODI PROFANUM, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: O braid thy tresses helen-wise
Last Line: Make sweet the air.
Subject(s): Flowers; Goddesses & Gods; Hair; Muses; Mythology; Mythology - Classical; Roses; Sea; Ulysses; Ocean; Odysseus


O braid thy tresses Helen-wise,
Put naught but roses in thine hair,
And tread with me where Attic skies
Make sweet the air.

Still the eternal hills behold
The feast of gods in Thessaly,
And still the Muses' songs are rolled
Across the sea.

Still pipes the great Arcadian Pan
Within the ears of all that heed
The music of Earth's ancient plan
On deathless reed.

And still the wise Odysseus hears
Circe the sun-born sorceress sing,
And turns her triumph into tears
Of welcoming.

For thee and me 'tis not the past
That seems unreal, alien, strange;
The beautiful must always last
Secure from change.

So braid thy tresses Helen-wise,
Put naught but roses in thine hair,
And tread with me where Attic skies
Make sweet the air.





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