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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


SOULS IN THE BALANCE: 3. THE PALE WOMAN by ARTHUR WILLIAM SYMONS

Poet Analysis

First Line: I SPOKE TO THE PALE AND HEAVY-LIDDED WOMAN
Last Line: AND I FEAR LEST THEY SEE THAT I DESIRE THEIR DESIRE.
Subject(s): DESIRE; SOUL;

I spoke to the pale and heavy-lidded woman, and said:
O pale and heavy-lidded woman, why is your cheek
Pale as the dead, and what are your eyes afraid lest they speak?
And the woman answered me: I am pale as the dead,
For the dead have loved me, and I dream of the dead.

But I see in the eyes of the living, as a living fire,
The thing that my soul in triumph tells me I have forgot;
And therefore my eyelids are heavy, and I raise them not,
For always I see in the eyes of men the old desire,
And I fear lest they see that I desire their desire.



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