Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


HYMN TO DESIRE by RENE FRANCOIS ARMAND PRUDHOMME

First Line: O DIE NOT YET, DIVINE DESIRE, WHOSE FLIGHT
Last Line: OUT OF THE DRAINéD CUP!
Subject(s): DESIRE; LOVE;

O DIE not yet, divine Desire, whose flight
Doth fan all human things,
O thou who givest birth unto delight
By folding of thy wings.

Strange wayfarer, and is thy love outgrown
Made lip and flower unseal?
The hidden sources of the world unknown
Wilt thou no more reveal?

On Beauty's face rain kisses, O Desire!
Into the pit of Truth
Bear thou thy torch's still unquenchéd fire
Fair Son of fading Youth!

Still give us dreams, still give us love, the great
Unending thirst that, ever drawing up,
Is born again to life insatiate
Out of the drainéd cup!



Home: PoetryExplorer.net