The Lust of the Eyes

The Poems of Elizabeth Siddal

The Lust of the Eyes

I care not for my Lady’s soul
Though I worship before her smile;
I care not where be my Lady’s goal
When her beauty shall lose its wile.

Low sit I down at my Lady’s feet
Gazing through her wild eyes
Smiling to think how my love will fleet
When their starlike beauty dies.

I care not if my Lady pray
To our Father which is in Heaven
But for joy my heart’s quick pulses play
For to me her love is given.

Then who shall close my Lady’s eyes
And who shall fold her hands?
Will any hearken if she cries
Up to the unknown lands?


Comments

2 responses to “The Lust of the Eyes”

  1. Alan L Boles Avatar
    Alan L Boles

    I enjoyed the history of the person, it gives an added insight into her poetry, and reveals the emotions behind her word choices.

  2. Leigh Harwood Avatar
    Leigh Harwood

    All poems are autobiographical, even when they are about others. This poem speaks to me about men who only care about our beautiful red hair, which will inevitably fade, along with the rest of our youthful looks. Would Rossetti have loved her if she had lived to see forty?

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