Classic and Contemporary Poetry
SYBARIS, by GEORGE SANTAYANA Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Lap, ripple, lap, icarian wave, the sand Last Line: Silvered the nymphs' feet, tripping o'er the green. Subject(s): Mythology – Greek | ||||||||
Lap, ripple, lap, Icarian wave, the sand Along the ruins of this piteous land; Murmur the praises of a lost delight, And soothe the aching of my starved sight With sheen of mirrored beauties, caught aright. Here stood enchanted palaces of old, All veined porphyry and burnished gold; Here matrons and slight maidens sat aloof Beneath cool porches, rich with Tyrian woof Hung from the carven rafters of the roof. Here in a mart a swarthy turbaned brave Showed the wrought blade or praised the naked slave. "Touch with your finger-tips this edge of steel," Quoth he, "and see this lad, from head to heel Like a bronze Cupid. Feel, my masters, feel." Here Aphrodite filled with frenzied love The dark recesses of her murmurous grove. The doves that haunted it, the winds that sighed, Were souls of youths that in her coverts died, And hopes of heroes strewed her garden wide. Under her shades a narrow brazen gate Led to the courts of Ares and of Fate. Who entered breathed the unutterable prayer Of cruel hearts, and death was worshipped there, And men went thence enfranchised by despair. Here the proud athlete in the baths delayed, While a cool fountain on his shoulders played, Then in fine linen swathed his breast and thighs, And silent, myrtle-crowned, with serious eyes, Stepped forth to list the wranglings of the wise. A sage stalked by, his ragged mantle bound About his brows; his eyes perused the ground; He conned the number of the cube and square Of the moon's orb; his horny feet and bare Trampled the lilies carpeting the stair. A jasper terrace hung above the sea Where the King supped with his beloved three: The Libyan chanted of her native land In raucous melody, the Indian fanned, And the huge mastiff licked his master's hand. Below, alone, despairing of the gale, A crouching sailor furled the saffron sail; Then rose, breathed deep, and plunged in the lagoon. A mermaid spied his glistening limbs: her croon Enticed him down; her cold arms choked him soon. And the King laughed, filled full his jewelled bowl, And drinking mused: "What know we of the soul? What magic, perfecting her harmony, Have these red drops that so attune her key, Or those of brine that set the wretched free? "If death should change me, as old fables feign, Into some slave or beast, to purge with pain My lordly pleasures, let my torment be Still to behold thee, Sybaris, and see The sacred horror of thy loves and thee. "Be thou my hell, my dumb eternal grief, But spare thy King the madness of belief, The brutish faith of ignorant desire That strives and wanders. Let the visible fire Of beauty torture me. That doom is higher. "I wear the crown of life. The rose and gem Twine with the pale gold of my diadem. Nature, long secret, hath unveiled to me And proved her vile. Her wanton bosoms be My pillow now. I know her, I am free." He spoke, and smiling stretched a languid hand, And music burst in mighty chords and bland Of harp and flute and cymbal. -- When between Two cypresses the large moon rose, her sheen Silvered the nymphs' feet, tripping o'er the green. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ASPIRATIONS OF A COUNTRY LAD by GEORGE SANTAYANA AT THE CHURCH DOOR by GEORGE SANTAYANA BEFORE A STATUE OF ACHILLES by GEORGE SANTAYANA CLASS SONG (WHICH WILL BE SUNG ON THE 22ND OF FEBRUARY) by GEORGE SANTAYANA COLLEGE DRINKING SONG by GEORGE SANTAYANA DEDICATION OF THE FIRST SONNETS TO A FRIEND ... by GEORGE SANTAYANA DEDICATION TO THE LATER SONNETS TO URANIA by GEORGE SANTAYANA |
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