HE praisers of women in their proud and beautiful
Naming the grave mouth and the hair and the
Boasted those they loved should be forever
These were
The words sound but the face in the Istrian sun is
The poet speaks but to her dead ears no
The sleek throat is gone -and the breast that was troubled to
Shadow from
Therefore I will not praise your knees nor your fine
Telling you men shall remember your name as
As lips move or breath is spent or the iron of
Rings from a tongueI shall say you were young and your arms straight and you!mouth scarletI shall say you will die and none will remember
Your arms change and none remember the swish of your
Nor the click of your
Not with my hand's strength not with difficult
Springing the obstinate words to the bones of your
And the stubborn line to your young stride and the breath to your
And the beat to your
Shall I prevail on the hearts of unborn men to remember(What is a dead girl but a shadowy
Or a dead man's voice but a distant and vain
Like dream words most)Therefore I will not speak of the undying glory of womenI will say you were young and straight and your skin
And you stood in the door and the sun was a shadow of leaves on your
And a leaf on your hairI will not speak of the famous beauty of dead womenI will say the shape of a leaf lay once on your
Till the world ends and the eyes are out and the mouths
Look!
It is there!
