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    Hymen
    Hymen
    Hymen
    Ebook93 pages36 minutes

    Hymen

    By H. D. (Hilda Doolittle)

    2.5/5

    ()

    Read preview
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArchive Classics
    Release dateJan 1, 2004
    Hymen

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    Reviews for Hymen

    2.5/5

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    • 2/5
      I do like H.D., but not this collection. The writing is derivative of Keats and the Romantics at their gushingest. The classical references and dramatic monologues of mythical figures do nothing new. And every poet should be allowed only one "ah" and one "O" in their careers. H.D. uses up a century's worth here.

    Book preview

    Hymen - H. D. (Hilda Doolittle)

    The Project Gutenberg EBook of Hymen, by Hilda Doolittle

    This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with

    almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or

    re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included

    with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net

    Title: Hymen

    Author: Hilda Doolittle

    Release Date: May 2, 2009 [EBook #28666]

    Language: English

    *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HYMEN ***

    Produced by Meredith Bach and the Online Distributed

    Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was

    produced from scanned images of public domain material

    from the Google Print project.)

    Transcriber's Note

    Obvious typographical errors have been corrected in this text. For a complete list, please see the bottom of this document.

    HYMEN

    By

    H. D.

    NEW YORK

    HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY

    1921

    FOR BRYHER AND PERDITA

    They said:

    she is high and far and blind

    in her high pride,

    but now that my head is bowed

    in sorrow, I find

    she is most kind.

    We have taken life, they said,

    blithely, not groped in a mist

    for things that are not—

    are if you will, but bloodless—

    why ask happiness of the dead?

    and my heart bled.

    Ah, could they know

    how violets throw strange fire,

    red and purple and gold,

    how they glow

    gold and purple and red

    where her feet tread.

    Acknowledgements are due to the editors of the following periodicals in which certain of these poems have appeared: Poetry (Chicago), The Dial, Contact and The Bookman (New York), The Nation, The Sphere, The Anglo-French Review and The Egoist (London).

    CONTENTS

    HYMEN

    As from a temple service, tall and dignified, with slow pace, each a queen, the sixteen matrons from the temple of Hera pass before the curtain—a dark purple hung between Ionic columns—of the porch or open hall of a palace. Their hair is bound as the marble hair of the temple Hera. Each wears a crown or diadem of gold.

    They sing—the music is temple music, deep, simple, chanting notes:

    From the closed garden

    Where our feet pace

    Back and forth each day,

    This gladiolus white,

    This red, this purple spray—

    Gladiolus tall with dignity

    As yours, lady—we lay

    Before your feet and pray:

    Of all the blessings—

    Youth, joy, ecstasy—

    May one gift last

    (As the tall gladiolus may

    Outlast the wind-flower,

    Winter-rose or rose),

    One gift above,

    Encompassing all those;

    For her, for him,

    For all within these palace walls,

    Beyond the feast,

    Beyond the cry of Hymen and the torch,

    Beyond the night and music

    Echoing through the porch till day.

    The music, with its deep chanting notes, dies away. The curtain hangs motionless in

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