WHO taught fair Cleopatra how to bring Mark Antony to her knees -- the touch of love, As soft as velvet, that could stroke the wing Of a butterfly and take no powder off; The gentle purr that made eternal Rome, With all its marble, melt in that sweet sound, And vanish like the mist, when it has come Into a man's full height above the ground? When I see how a cat has, even now, With its own body curled and crouching low, Made a large, heavy collar, soft and warm, For that girl's neck, I think, with no alarm, If, young one, that's your friend -- as it was Hers -- I'll watch you round the corner of my fears. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...UNWELCOME by MARY ELIZABETH COLERIDGE THE SERGEANT'S WEDDIN' by RUDYARD KIPLING UPON HIS LEAVING HIS MISTRESS by JOHN WILMOT THE WOOD THRUSH by SUSAN SHARP ADAMS PATRIOTISM AND FREEDOM by JOANNA BAILLIE |