Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE CLOUD by THEOPHILE GAUTIER

Poem Explanation

First Line: A CLOUD THE FAR HORIZON SCALES
Last Line: OVER HER SATIN SHOULDER SLIM.
Subject(s): APHRODITE; CLOUDS; MYTHOLOGY; MYTHOLOGY - CLASSICAL;

A CLOUD the far horizon scales
And shapely on the sky-line sails,
As though a naked girl rose slowly
Out of a lake that no shadow veils

And upright in her shell of pearl
She sails the blue, this pallid girl,
Foam-frail, a later Aphrodite
Born of the foam in the air a-swirl.

Behold the supple shining limb,
And how she wavers in her whim,
And how Dawn scatters roses, roses
Over her satin shoulder slim.



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