The greater cats with golden eyes
Stare out between the bars.
Deserts are there, and the different skies,
And night with different stars.
They prowl the aromatic hill,
And mate as fiercely as they kill,
To roam, to live, to drink their fill;
But this beyond their wit know I:
Man loves a little, and for long shall die.
Their kind across the desert range
Where tulips spring from stones,
Not knowing they will suffer change
Or vultures pick their bones.
Their strength’s eternal in their sight,
They overtake the deer in flight,
And in their arrogance they smite;
But I am sage, if they are strong:
Man’s love is transient as his death is long.
Yet oh what powers to deceive!
My wit is turned to faith,
And at this moment I believe
In love, and scout at death.
I came from nowhere, and shall be
Strong, steadfast, swift, eternally:
I am a lion, a stone, a tree,
And as the Polar star in me
Is fixed my constant heart on thee.
Ah, may I stay forever blind
With lions, tigers, leopards, and their kind.
(Victoria Sackville-West)
More Poetry from Victoria Sackville-West:
Victoria Sackville-West Poems based on Topics: Man, Love, Nature, Sense & Perception, Eternity, Lies & Deceit, Belief & Faith, Wit, Lions, Death & Dying- Bee-Master (Victoria Sackville-West Poems)
- Sailing Ships (Victoria Sackville-West Poems)
- Making Cider (Victoria Sackville-West Poems)
- Bitterness (Victoria Sackville-West Poems)
- Tuscany (Victoria Sackville-West Poems)
- And so it ends (Victoria Sackville-West Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Love Poems, Man Poems, Death & Dying Poems, Nature Poems, Sense & Perception Poems, Belief & Faith Poems, Lies & Deceit Poems, Eternity Poems, Wit Poems, Lions Poems- Of The Nature Of Things: Book IV - Part 04 - Some Vital Functions (Lucretius Poems)
- Book IV - Part 04 - Some Vital Functions (Lucretius Poems)
- Medulla Poetarum Romanorum - VOL. I. (Content - Courtship) (Henry Baker Poems)
- Army Of Northern Virginia (Stephen Vincent Benet Poems)
- Moslem Worship (John Pierpont Poems)