Orpheus, the night is full of tears and cries,
And hardly for the storm and ruin shed
Can even thine eyes be certain of her head
Who never passed out of thy spirit’s eyes,
But stood and shone before them in such wise
As when with love her lips and hands were fed,
And with mute mouth out of the dusty dead
Strove to make answer when thou bad’st her rise.
Yet viper-stricken must her lifeblood feel
The fang that stung her sleeping, the foul germ
Even when she wakes of hell’s most poisonous worm,
Though now it writhe beneath her wounded heel.
Turn yet, she will not fade nor fly from thee;
Wait, and see hell yield up Eurydice.
(Algernon Charles Swinburne)
More Poetry from Algernon Charles Swinburne:
Algernon Charles Swinburne Poems based on Topics: Night, Sleep, Cry, Hell, Sleeping- A Channel Crossing (Algernon Charles Swinburne Poems)
- A Ballad of Death (Algernon Charles Swinburne Poems)
- A Forsaken Garden (Algernon Charles Swinburne Poems)
- A Jacobite's Exile (Algernon Charles Swinburne Poems)
- A Leave-Taking (Algernon Charles Swinburne Poems)
- A Ballad Of Fran (Algernon Charles Swinburne Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Night Poems, Cry Poems, Sleep Poems, Hell Poems, Sleeping PoemsBased on Keywords: eurydice, lifeblood, viper-stricken