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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE CYPRUS VASE, by ROSALIND TRAVERS First Line: A twilight breeze, of honied scent impassioned Last Line: Three thousand years ago? Subject(s): Antiquities; Cyprus; Vases | |||
A TWILIGHT breeze, of honied scent impassioned, Shakes gently to and fro Red roses, in a jar of Cyprus fashioned Three thousand years ago. So long earth hid secure in her dark bosom The fragile, moulded clay; Unburied now, it holds the fleeting blossom Of a brief summer's day. And breathes out visions to the dusk, that hover Flame-like, upon the wall; Beauty and old-time gladness, passing over While the red roses fall. Rose-leaves which patter like the rhythmic feet Of dancing. girls, who glide Through sunlit halls, where kings and chieftains meet When spears are laid aside. Peace crowned the girls with roses, brimmed with wine The lovely curves of you, Fair ancient vase! and raised, with touch divine, Dead brotherhood anew. Forgotten peace! and long forgotten war! People and Kings are gone; Dust from the wheel of Time's unresting car; Only the vase lives on. Perfect as when, within the shady portal, It cooled from summer's glow; Who would have deemed the frail thing half immortal, Three thousand years ago? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE V-A-S-E by JAMES JEFFREY ROCHE ON A GREEK VASE by FRANK DEMPSTER SHERMAN QUATORZAINS: 6. A FANTASTIC SIMILE by THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES THE FIRE VASE by NATHALIA CRANE LIKE A FRIENDSHIP MARRED by ANN WOODBURY HAFEN GRACE AND LOVE by GEORGE MEREDITH |
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