Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, WHITENESS, by JOHN COWPER POWYS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

WHITENESS, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: White roses set in ivory urns
Last Line: The white sea of the tears of god.
Subject(s): Blood; Drinks & Drinking; Flowers; Jesus Christ; Night; Roses; Tears; Wine; Bedtime


White roses set in ivory urns,
White violets wreathed in silver cups;
White marble founts whose moss and ferns,
The shadow of the moon drink up.

Since I have known you and your ways,
Things such as these are my delights.
A whiteness glimmers on my days,
A whiteness hovers o'er my nights.

White dews, white crescent moons, white dawns,
White flickering feet, white-gleaming hands,
White limbs that dream on twilight lawns,
White limbs that dance on shimmering sands.

O child, O maiden-acolyte,
Whose censer breathes such silvery breath,
Pour wine white as the flesh of Christ
Upon the altar of white death!

Then all red things shall fade away --
Red flame, red roses, and red blood,
And we shall voyage night and day
The white sea of the tears of God.





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