Ernest Christopher Dowson (Эрнест Кристофер Доусон)

Flos Lunae

I would not alter thy cold eyes,
Nor trouble the calm fount of speech
With aught of passion or surprise.
The heart of thee I cannot reach:
I would not alter thy cold eyes!

I would not alter thy cold eyes;
Nor have thee smile, nor make thee weep:
Though all my life droops down and dies,
Desiring thee, desiring sleep,
I would not alter thy cold eyes.

I would not alter thy cold eyes;
I would not change thee if I might,
To whom my prayers for incense rise,
Daughter of dreams! my moon of night!
I would not alter thy cold eyes.

I would not alter thy cold eyes,
With trouble of the human heart:
Within their glance my spirit lies,
A frozen thing, alone, apart;
I would not alter thy cold eyes. 

Ernest Christopher Dowson’s other poems:

  1. Villanelle of Marguerite’s
  2. Soli Cantare Periti Arcades
  3. Quid Non Supremus, Amantes?
  4. Epigram
  5. Vain Resolves




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