To Helen Helen, thy beauty is to me Like those Nicean barks of yore That gently, o'er a perfumed sea, The weary, way-worn wanderer bore To his own native shore. On desperate seas long wont to roam, Thy hyacinth hair, thy classic face, Thy Naiad airs have brought me home To the glory that was Greece, And the grandeur that was Rome. Lo, in yon brilliant window-niche How statue-like I see thee stand, The agate lamp within thy hand, Ah! Psyche, from the regions which Are Holy Land!
Interpretation
This quote expresses deep admiration and longing for a beloved, comparing her beauty to ancient and idyllic imagery.
In this poem, Edgar Allan Poe uses rich imagery to convey his deep affection for Helen, portraying her beauty as reminiscent of ancient Greek and Roman grandeur. The speaker feels a sense of homecoming and solace in her presence, highlighting the transformative power of love and beauty, which brings a weary soul comfort and joy, reminiscent of the classical ideals of beauty and divinity.
In practice
This quote can be used in a wedding speech to express love and admiration for a partner.
But evil things, in robes of sorrow, Assailed the monarch's high estate; (Ah, let us mourn, for never morrow Shall dawn upon him desolate!) And round about his home the glory That blushed and bloomed, Is but a dim-remembered story Of the old time entombed.
Most writers - poets in especial - prefer having it understood that they compose by a species of fine frenzy - an ecstatic intuition - and would positively shudder at letting the public take a peep behind the scenes.
...the agony of my soul found vent in one loud, long and final scream of despair.
Where the good and the bad and the worst and the best have gone to their eternal rest.
I could have clasped the red walls to my bosom as a garment of eternal peace. "Death," I said, "any death but that of the pit!" Fool! might I have not known that into the pit it was the object of the burning iron to urge me?
In our endeavors to recall to memory something long forgotten, we often find ourselves upon the very verge of remembrance, without being able, in the end, to remember.
Without your wounds where would your power be? It is your melancholy that makes your low voice tremble into the hearts of men and women. The very angels themselves cannot persuade the wretched and blundering children on earth as can one human being broken on the wheels of living. In Loveβs service, only wounded soldiers can serve. Physician, draw back.
Falling in love in a Christian way is to say,'I am excited about your future and I want to be part of getting you there. I'm signing up for the journey with you. Would you sign up for the journey to my true self with me? It's going to be hard but I want to get there.
He loved her, of course, but better than that, he chose her, day after day. Choice: that was the thing.
When I tried to draw near, you dissolved into air before my lips could touch you...
You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.
Maybe it's just hiding somewhere. Or gone on a trip to come home. But falling in love is always a pretty crazy thing. It might appear out of the blue and just grab you. Who knows β maybe even tomorrow.
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