Sonnets of the Wingless Hours By Eugene Lee-Hamilton |
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TO THE SO-CALLED VENUS OF MILO.
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 | Sonnets of the Wingless Hours |  |
37
TO THE SO-CALLED VENUS OF MILO.
I.
Thou armless Splendour, Victory's own breath;
Embraceless Beauty, Strength bereft of hands;
To whose high pedestal a hundred lands
Send rent of awe, and sons to stand beneath;
Embraceless Beauty, Strength bereft of hands;
To whose high pedestal a hundred lands
Send rent of awe, and sons to stand beneath;
To whom Adonis never brought a wreath,
Nor Tannhäuser a song, but whose commands
Were blindly followed, by immortal bands
Who wooed thee at Thermopylæ in death:
Nor Tannhäuser a song, but whose commands
Were blindly followed, by immortal bands
Who wooed thee at Thermopylæ in death:
No Venus thou; but nurse of legions steeled
By Freedom's self, where rang her highest note,
And never has thy bosom felt a kiss:
By Freedom's self, where rang her highest note,
And never has thy bosom felt a kiss:
No Venus thou; but on the golden shield
Which once thy lost left held, thy lost right wrote:
‘At Marathon and briny Salamis.’
Which once thy lost left held, thy lost right wrote:
‘At Marathon and briny Salamis.’
| Sonnets of the Wingless Hours | |