Poems 1918-21 : including three portraits and four cantos |
 |
|
|
 |
|
| I. |
| II. |
| III. |
| IV. |
| V. |
YEUX GLAUQUES |
| x. |
| XI. |
| XII. |
|
|
 | Poems 1918-21 : |  |
57
YEUX GLAUQUES
GLADSTONE was still respected,
When John Ruskin produced
"Kings' Treasuries"; Swinburne
And Rossetti still abused.
When John Ruskin produced
"Kings' Treasuries"; Swinburne
And Rossetti still abused.
Fœtid Buchanan lifted up his voice
When that faun's head of hers
Became a pastime for
Painters and adulterers.
When that faun's head of hers
Became a pastime for
Painters and adulterers.
The Burne-Jones cartons
Have preserved her eyes;
Still, at the Tate, they teach
Cophetua to rhapsodize;
Have preserved her eyes;
Still, at the Tate, they teach
Cophetua to rhapsodize;
Thin like brook-water,
With a vacant gaze.
The English Rubaiyat was still-born
In those days.
With a vacant gaze.
The English Rubaiyat was still-born
In those days.
The thin, clear gaze, the same
Still darts out faun-like from the half-ruin'd face,
Questing and passive. . . .
"Ah, poor Jenny's case" . . .
Still darts out faun-like from the half-ruin'd face,
Questing and passive. . . .
"Ah, poor Jenny's case" . . .
Bewildered that a world
Shows no surprise
At her last maquero's
Adulteries.
Shows no surprise
At her last maquero's
Adulteries.
| Poems 1918-21 : | |