The Poetical Works of Ernest Christopher Dowson Edited, with an introduction, by Desmond Flower |
 | I. |
|
|
|
|
| I. |
|
|
| I. |
| II. |
SONNET
|
|
| II. |
|
|
| XVII. |
| XXI. |
 | The Poetical Works of Ernest Christopher Dowson |  |
148
SONNET
TO NATURE
MORITURI TE SALUTANT
Thou unclean harpy, odorous of despair,
I offer up no praises on the shrine
Of thy wild beauty; thou art not divine,
Nor reverent at all thy tranquil air;
I know thee, evil one, and I am ware
Of all thy vileness;—never song of mine
Shall swell the shameful triumphs that are thine
Thou shalt not cajole me of ev'n one prayer.
O false, foul mother who to sate thy lust,
Insatiate of misery doth consume
The lives that thou hast fashioned out of dust,
Who feedest on the children of thy womb,
Thy beauty cannot conquer our distrust,
Thy tenderness is crueller than a tomb.
| The Poetical Works of Ernest Christopher Dowson | |