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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
PORTRAIT, by WYSTAN HUGH AUDEN Poem Explanation Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: The lips so apt for deeds of passion Last Line: Before the last act of the play, %from its unlovely ending Alternate Author Name(s): Auden, W. H. | |||
THE lips so apt for deeds of passion The hair to stifle a man's breath The symmetry of form beneath An Irish mackintosh, the wild Defiant pupils of a child. The gods responsible for these Whatever else to blame one sees Were artists in their fashion. But left the signature unwritten Too early tired; 'twas strange to botch A masterpiece, but we who watch Horizons to redress the wrong See only Götterdämmerung. Not one of us, except in dreams, Can alter by a word it seems The story that is written, Which has no happy marriage-ending. A story, which we know, will fail To turn romantic fairy tale, For neither friendliness nor tears Have hands to push away the years, We can but turn our eyes away Before the last act of the play And its unlovely ending. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...NIGHTFALL (1) by WYSTAN HUGH AUDEN ALONE (1) by WYSTAN HUGH AUDEN BACH AND THE LADY by WYSTAN HUGH AUDEN BETWEEN ADVENTURE by WYSTAN HUGH AUDEN WHO'S WHO by WYSTAN HUGH AUDEN THIS LOVED ONE by WYSTAN HUGH AUDEN |
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