Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TOWARD THE PIRAEUS: 3 by HILDA DOOLITTLE

Poet Analysis

First Line: WHAT HAD YOU DONE
Last Line: THAT I AM WISE.
Subject(s): BIBLE; LIES; MAN-WOMAN RELATIONSHIPS; MEN; MALE-FEMALE RELATIONS;
WHAT had you done
had you been true,
I can not think,
I may not know.

What could we do
were I not wise,
what play invent,
what joy devise?

What could we do
if you were great?
(Yet were you lost,
who were there, then,
to circumvent
the tricks of men?)

What can we do,
for curious lies
have filled your heart,
and in my eyes
sorrow has writ
that I am wise.



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