Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

MODERN BEAUTY by ARTHUR WILLIAM SYMONS

Poet Analysis

First Line: I AM THE TORCH, SHE SAITH, AND WHAT TO ME
Last Line: THE TORCH, BUT WHERE'S THE MOTH THAT STILL DARES DIE?
Subject(s): BEAUTY; HELEN OF TROY; MYTHOLOGY - CLASSICAL;
I am the torch, she saith, and what to me
If the moth die of me? I am the flame
Of Beauty, and I burn that all may see
Beauty, and I have neither joy nor shame,
But live with that clear light of perfect fire
Which is to men the death of their desire.

I am Yseult and Helen, I have seen
Troy burn, and the most loving knight lie dead.
The world has been my mirror, time has been
My breath upon the glass; and men have said,
Age after age, in rapture and despair,
Love's poor few words, before my image there.

I live, and am immortal; in my eyes
The sorrow of the world, and on my lips
The joy of life, mingle to make me wise;
Yet now the day is darkened with eclipse:
Who is there still lives for beauty? Still am I
The torch, but where's the moth that still dares die?





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