Why hast thou nothing in thy face? Thou idol of the human race, Thou tyrant of the human heart, The flower of lovely youth thou art; Yea, and that standest in thy youth An image of eternal Truth, With thy exuberant flesh so fair, That only Pheidias might compare, Ere from his chaste marmoreal form Time had decayed the colours warm; Like to his gods in thy proud dress, Thy starry sheen of nakedness. Surely the body is thy mind, For in thy face is nought to find, Only thy soft unchristen'd smile, That shadows neither love nor guile, But shameless will and power immense, In secret sensuous innocence. O king of joy, what is thy thought? I dream thou knowest it is nought, And wouldst in darkness come, but thou Makest the light where'er thou go. Ah yet no victim of thy grace None who e'er long'd for thy embrace, Hath cared to look upon thy face. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A CELEBRATION OF CHARIS: 5. HIS DISCOURSE WITH CUPID by BEN JONSON THE TRAMPS by ROBERT WILLIAM SERVICE SONNET: 64 by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE THIS COMPOST: 2. by WALT WHITMAN THE RUNNER WITH THE LOTS by LEONIE ADAMS A MOTHER'S DREAM by MATHILDE BLIND EPISTLE TO A FRIEND, IN ANSWER TO SOME LINES TO BE CHEERFUL by GEORGE GORDON BYRON |