PROM THE GREEK OF BION.
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Published by Forman, "Poetical Works of P. B. S.", 1876.] I mourn Adonis dead--loveliest Adonis--Dead, dead Adonis--and the Loves lament.Sleep no more, Venus, wrapped in purple woof--Wake violet-stoled queen, and weave the crownOf Death,--'tis Misery calls,--for he is dead. _5 The lovely one lies wounded in the mountains,His white thigh struck with the white tooth; he scarceYet breathes; and Venus hangs in agony there.The dark blood wanders o'er his snowy limbs,His eyes beneath their lids are lustreless, _10The rose has fled from his wan lips, and thereThat kiss is dead, which Venus gathers yet. A deep, deep wound Adonis...A deeper Venus bears upon her heart.See, his beloved dogs are gathering round-- _15The Oread nymphs are weeping--AphroditeWith hair unbound is wandering through the woods,'Wildered, ungirt, unsandalled--the thorns pierceHer hastening feet and drink her sacred blood.Bitterly screaming out, she is driven on _20Through the long vales; and her Assyrian boy,Her love, her husband, calls--the purple bloodFrom his struck thigh stains her white navel now,Her bosom, and her neck before like snow. Alas for Cytherea--the Loves mourn-- _25The lovely, the beloved is gone!--and nowHer sacred beauty vanishes away.For Venus whilst Adonis lived was fair--Alas! her loveliness is dead with him.The oaks and mountains cry, Ai! ai! Adonis! _30The springs their waters change to tears and weep--The flowers are withered up with grief... Ai! ai! ... Adonis is deadEcho resounds ... Adonis dead.Who will weep not thy dreadful woe. O Venus? _35Soon as she saw and knew the mortal woundOf her Adonis--saw the life-blood flowFrom his fair thigh, now wasting,--wailing loudShe clasped him, and cried ... 'Stay, Adonis!Stay, dearest one,... _40and mix my lips with thine--Wake yet a while, Adonis--oh, but once,That I may kiss thee now for the last time--But for as long as one short kiss may live--Oh, let thy breath flow from thy dying soul _45Even to my mouth and heart, that I may suckThat...' NOTE:_23 his Rossetti, Dowden, Woodberry; her Boscombe manuscript, Forman. ***
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