 | The Collected Songs of Charles Mackay |  |
301
NO MORE CUPIDS.
I
There rose a revolt in the kingdom of Song,—“No more,” said the people, “we'll hear
“Of Cupid and Venus,—we've borne them too long,
“Their names from our hearts disappear.
“The Love that we love has no wings;
“And the Goddess of Beauty we prize,
“Is a fair English maid with an innocent heart,
“And the light of her soul in her eyes.
II
“Let Cupid, and Venus, and Hymen be gone,“To sleep in Antiquity's page,
“And let the nine Muses depart, every one,—
“They suit not the taste of our age!”
So Beauty and Love were enthroned;
And people and bards, kneeling down,
Decreed them supreme in the regions of Song,
And gave them the sceptre and crown.
III
And now if by Venus a bard would protest,We smile at the obsolete name,
Or think that he only invokes it in jest,
Or knows not Love's holier flame.
And when lovers to Cupid appeal,
Or talk of his conquering dart,
Their love is but fancy, that dwells on the tongue,
But ne'er had a home in the heart.
| The Collected Songs of Charles Mackay | |