 | Sonnets : a sequence on profane love by George Henry Boker |  |
119
[CCIV. If Grecian Helen pleaded with the tongue]
If Grecian Helen pleaded with the tongueThe Chian lent her—sweetest tongue of earth!
If Agamemnon's child forgot her birth,
And at my knee in panting beauty clung;
If fiery Cleopatra sued and hung
Fast to my restless hand in prurient mirth;
If chaste Lucretia wrecked her ancient worth;
And Rosamond's hair about my feet were flung;
If all the fairest creatures that have worn
The poets' wreaths, the crowns of chivalry,
Were singly or in concourse offered me;
I would reject, in haste and simple scorn
The night-born stars, whose rise foreran thy morn,
Yea, from their homage turn to worship thee.
September 14, 1866
| Sonnets : a sequence on profane love by George Henry Boker | |