Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


CYPRIAN WOMAN: GREEK FOLK SONG by MARGARET WIDDEMER

First Line: UNDER DUSKY LAUREL LEAF
Last Line: ALL THAT LIFE COULD TELL.

Under dusky laurel leaf,
Scarlet leaf of rose,
I lie prone, who have known
All a woman knows.

Love and grief and motherhood,
Fame and mirth and scorn,
These are all shall befall
Any woman born.

Jewel-laden are my hands,
Tall my stone above --
Do not weep that I sleep,
Who was wise in love:

Where I walk a shadow gray
Through gray asphodel,
I am glad, who have had
All that Life could tell.



Home: PoetryExplorer.net