An ignominious monster and uncouth
Who crouches in a Satanic attitude,
The naked parody of some vital truth
Concealed from that huge howling multitude
That whirls forever on the winds and storms
And in the silence of the desert brood.
This inchoate being the vast night deforms
And he is covetous of men’s spilt blood;
A creature fashioned of the Nile’s slime and mud
That has no thought but to be there alive,
Alive under no hawk’s nor night owl’s hood;
He has forgotten all but how to strive
In vain against the God’s hostility;
A Caliban who has not the art to thrive
On the mere nothing his feet are fast upon
A monstrous stone once hewn in Babylon
Half featureless and utterly insane,
There where he crouches just held by his feet
From falling headlong on the noiseless street;
A thing without the atom of a brain
To fathom his abominable nudity.
Who made him? Some mad monster of a man
Whose mind conceived this nightmare, Caliban.
(Arthur Symons)
More Poetry from Arthur Symons:
Arthur Symons Poems based on Topics: Man, Mind, God, Silence, Brain, Art, Madness, Matter, Attitude, Hostility- A Brother Of The Battuti (Arthur Symons Poems)
- Alle Zattere (Arthur Symons Poems)
- A Litany of Lethe (Arthur Symons Poems)
- Airs for the Lute (Arthur Symons Poems)
- At the Stage Door (Arthur Symons Poems)
- At the Foresters (Arthur Symons Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Man Poems, God Poems, Mind Poems, Art Poems, Silence Poems, Madness Poems, Brain Poems, Hostility Poems, Matter Poems, Attitude PoemsBased on Keywords: deforms, featureless, parody, crouches, satanic, ignominious, covetous, caliban, abominable, nudity, inchoate