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Upon the Face of Agamemnon

Upon the Face of Agamemnon “and also he [King Priam of Troy] admires Agamemnon for his beauty” ~ Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae, XIII, 906 Forget that Helen for a moment.  Think Of gorgeous men.  The King of Troy could not Resist men’s beauty.  Helen caused a stink That...

The Tortoise

          The Tortoise Modern poetry  modern verse  contemporary poetry  contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem “Other poems by Apollinaire relate to Orpheus, for example, ‘The Tortoise,’ whose shell—a gift from Apollo—provided the frame of his lyre.” ~...

Poets, Poetry, and Women

Poets, Poetry, and Women For well thou know’st to my dear doting heart Thou art the fairest and most precious jewel. Yet, in good faith, some say that thee behold, Thy face hath not the power to make love groan ~ Sonnet 131 Who thinks of blank Eurydice? None.  Slack...

Deer-tongue

            Deer-tongue   The smell of deer-tongue came to me today From decades past.  I mean the fragrance of The dried out leaves, as dried out as the splay Of decades since my father taught us love, His sons, beneath the Florida sun, leaves That called up beauty...

Philopoiêtai, Poetry Lovers from Time Immemorial

Philopoiêtai, Poetry Lovers from Time Immemorial “Plato’s Symposium shows how Plato deploys dramatic irony to undermine the philopoiêtai’s use of poetry. Elizabeth Belfiore (“Poets and the Symposium”) argues that the dialogue’s first five symposiasts, in their poetic...

Pindar on Theoxenus

      Pindar on Theoxenus   The poet Pindar focuses on love Derived from burning rays from flashing eyes Of young Theoxenus.  They are above All others.  Love in any other guise Is dimness at its best.  The sun can melt The wax of bees, can sting it with its heat....