Venus Verticordia
by Dante Gabriel Rossetti
She hath the apple in her hand for thee,
Yet almost in her heart would hold it back;
She muses, with her eyes upon the track
Of that which in thy spirit they can see.
Haply, 'Behold, he is at peace,' - the dart
That follows its brief sweetness to his heart, -
The wandering of his feet perpetually!'
A little space her glance is still and coy;
But if she give the fruit that works her spell,
Those eyes shall flame as for her Phrygian boy.
Then shall her bird's strained throat the woe foretell,
And her far seas moan as a single shell,
And through her dark grove strike the light of Troy.
=
Aphrodite as a Heart Changer
Eat this delightsome fiendish fruit that she,
Loath to vallow to leave her breasts, doth hold?
L,o she now sees this treatment harsh for thee,
In that thou shalt with heart forlorn lapse old.
Now fortune's eye hath looked at thee; yet hark!
After her rending lance hath hit its mark
No ecstasies, oh gypsy, shall there be.
Demurely placid she'll thus briefly stay;
Eyes seen serene first, as with Paris, they
Rekindle fervidly ere cypress garb
She'll wear, that wrap which shall pronounce the plight
Of pangs that I receive of this spear's flight,
Nubile, divine if touched by that Greek barb.
Return to Richard Brodie Index
Return to Poem Page
Updated: May 10, 2016
