What voice, O vengeful Anteros,
Has called thee from the seedless weald?-
Dark sower of the tares of loss
Amid the foison of love’s field!
What mouth, O mournful Anteros,
Must eat the grain the seasons yield?
Thy touch, O mortal Anteros,
Has turned the sapphic laurel sere,
Thy wings have cast their night across
The dial of our Saturnian year,
The cypress, O sad Anteros,
Grew darker when thou drewest near. . . .
O lover, thy black prayer unsay,
Who called on baleful Anteros!
Crown thee with nettles, kneel, and lay
Thy brows upon love’s altar close,
To the departing Eros pray
Against the wrath of Anteros.
(Clark Ashton Smith)
More Poetry from Clark Ashton Smith:
Clark Ashton Smith Poems based on Topics: Love, Anger- The Butterfly (Clark Ashton Smith Poems)
- Calenture (Clark Ashton Smith Poems)
- The City Of Destruction (Clark Ashton Smith Poems)
- Luna Aeternalis (Clark Ashton Smith Poems)
- The Blindness of Orion (Clark Ashton Smith Poems)
- Don Quixote on Market Street (Clark Ashton Smith Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Love Poems, Anger PoemsBased on Keywords: eros, unsay, tares, weald, saturnian, foison, sapphic, seedless, anteros, drewest