Helen
Hilda Doolittle 1886 (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania) – 1961 (Zurich)
All Greece hates
the still eyes in the white face,
the lustre as of olives
where she stands,
and the white hands.
All Greece reviles
the wan face when she smiles,
hating it deeper still
when it grows wan and white,
remembering past enchantments
and past ills.
Greece sees, unmoved,
God's daughter, born of love,
the beauty of cool feet
and slenderest knees,
could love indeed the maid,
only if she were laid,
white ash amid funereal cypresses.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 26, 2023
- 24 sec read
- 256 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | AXXBB AXXXAX XXXXCCA |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 436 |
Words | 80 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 6, 7 |
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"Helen" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/19269/helen>.
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