IN your dim Greece of old, Alcithoë, Death like a lover sought and crowned you young, Between the olive orchards and the sea. When they had twined your myrtle-buds, and hung The stately cypress at your door, they said, "Alcithoë is dead, Before whose feet the flaming crocus sprung, For whom the red rose opened ere the prime; Those the gods love are taken before their time." Ah! why did no one, watching you alone, Snare your dead beauty in undying stone ? The gold hair bound beneath its golden band, The milk-white poppies closed within your hand; That the harsh world a little space might keep The last, still, exquisite vision of your sleep. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...EPITAPH (ON A COMMONPLACE PERSON WHO DIED IN BED) by AMY LEVY IRELAND (1847) by DENIS FLORENCE MCCARTHY TO CHARLOTTE PULTENEY [IN HER MOTHER'S ARMS] by AMBROSE PHILIPS SHADOWS by VICTOR GUSTAVE PLARR OMNES EODEM COGIMUR by AMMIANUS EMBLEMS OF LOVE: 18. HARD TO BE PLEASED by PHILIP AYRES THE 'STAY AT HOME'S' PLAINT, 1878 by GEORGE AUGUSTUS BAKER JR. |