But Perhaps Keats Understood It at His Best
Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem
“The Pure Present which so often aroused Goethe’s admiration in every product of the classical life and in sculpture particularly, fills that life with an intensity that is to us perfectly unknown.” ~ Spengler, The Decline of the West, Introduction
…
Perfection fails to be that boring thing
Romantics so desired Ideals to be.
That Byron and that Shelley loved to sing
Of beauty is enough for us to see
The truth. Molasses on a cloth of gold
Was what their spilling characters revealed.
They never stood in front of perfect old
White marble statues and were never healed
By perfect balance of the muscles of
Male shoulders, hips, and thighs, or by the curve
Of carved white goddess breasts so shaped like love
That even Plato might have lost reserve.
..There is a purity so grave, intense,
….And utter it becomes the rule, immense.
by phillipw | Feb 17, 2021 | AE, BE, CL, ES, RO |