Copper Sun (Cullen)/A Poem Once Significant, Now Happily Not
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A Poem Once Significant, Now Happily Not
WHATEVER I have loved has wounded me;
I bear unto my grave this crimson scar,
The vivid testament of how a star
Can hurt; and I am blinded by the sea.
Hell-deep and heaven-high for Beauty’s sake,
Pierced with the shaft that rankles ere it kills,
I danced with dawn and dusk upon their hills,
Yet thought at each earth kiss my heart would break.
I bear unto my grave this crimson scar,
The vivid testament of how a star
Can hurt; and I am blinded by the sea.
Hell-deep and heaven-high for Beauty’s sake,
Pierced with the shaft that rankles ere it kills,
I danced with dawn and dusk upon their hills,
Yet thought at each earth kiss my heart would break.
Small wonder is it, love, that you who are
Far lovelier than sea, dawn-flush, or star,
Or spittled clay grown arrogant with breath,
Beholding this maimed thing that dares to crawl
To your imperial bosom, should let fall
Your hand, betrothing Insolence to Death.
Far lovelier than sea, dawn-flush, or star,
Or spittled clay grown arrogant with breath,
Beholding this maimed thing that dares to crawl
To your imperial bosom, should let fall
Your hand, betrothing Insolence to Death.