by Arthur Symons (1865 - 1945)
Modern beauty
Language: English
I am the torch, she saith, and what to me If the moth die of me? I am the flame Of Beauty, and I burn that all may see Beauty, and I have neither joy nor shame, But live with that clear light of perfect fire Which is to men the death of their desire. I am Yseult and Helen, I have seen Troy burn, and the most loving knight lie dead. The world has been my mirror, time has been My breath upon the glass; and men have said, Age after age, in rapture and despair, Love's poor few words, before my image there. I live, and am immortal; in my eyes The sorrow of the world, and on my lips The joy of life, mingle to make me wise; Yet now the day is darkened with eclipse: Who is there still lives for beauty? Still am I The torch, but where's the moth that still dares die?
Confirmed with Untermeyer, Louis, Modern British Poetry, New York, Harcourt, Brace and Howe, 1920.
Text Authorship:
- by Arthur Symons (1865 - 1945), "Modern beauty" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Walter Foster , "Modern beauty" [tenor and piano], from A Gypsy Romance, no. 1. [ sung text not verified ]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2018-01-14
Line count: 18
Word count: 159