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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
MELISSA, by ROBERT LOUIS BURGESS First Line: Melissa / is the sweet core of the apple of a young man's dream Last Line: Save us from love! | |||
Melissa Is the sweet core of the apple of a young man's dream Of a perfect woman. Melissa Is pretty, not beautiful. (God save us from Beauty -- Pedestaled on granite, Molten in red-white furnace hearts, Smiling in hell.) Melissa Is charming faithless. (God save us from Faith -- An acid, an eye that stares, A curse upon transitory joys, A brazen curse blaring from trumpets.) Melissa Is neither too old nor too young. (God save us from Youth -- Acrid chemistry, sick yeast, Rumbling, earthquaking, A mad elephant! And God save us from Age -- A supreme white statue carved of a cliff Gazing out over the pale serenities of an ancient sea.) Melissa Is quick-witted, but has no brain. (God save us from Brain -- A steaming corruption that befogs the stars, A massive stealthiness, A sneaking glacier, A panther screaming in a mountain cave.) Melissa Giggles, but does not laugh. (God save us from Laughter -- A cracked obelisk, A chattering of teeth, A grinding of bones, A scared whisper in a lonely night.) Melissa Kisses and plays, but does not love, Does not love, Does not love. Melissa Does not love. God save us from Love! O dear God in Heaven, save us from Love! Save us from Love! Save us from Love! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A PARADOX by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON NIGHTINGALES by ROBERT SEYMOUR BRIDGES THE BATTLE AUTUMN OF 1862 by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER THE BOY AND THE BROOK by LEO ALISHAN CHARACTERS: ELIZABETH RIGBY by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD STANZAS, COMPOSED WHILE WALKING ON WARREN HILL, EARLY SUMMER'S MORNING by BERNARD BARTON TO A FRIEND by HARRY RANDOLPH BLYTHE EPITAPH ON MRS. ANNE PRIDEAUX, DAUGHTER OF DR. PRIDEAUX by WILLIAM BROWNE (1591-1643) |
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