Friday, September 11, 2009

"Aw'd without virtue, without beauty charm'd"

















Twas thus Calypso once each heart alarm'd,
Aw'd without virtue, without beauty charm'd;
Her tongue bewitch'd as oddly as her eyes,
Less wit than mimic, more a wit than wise;
Strange graces still, and stranger flights she had,
Was just not ugly, and was just not mad;
Yet ne'er so sure our passion to create,
As when she touch'd the brink of all we hate.


From "Epistles to Several Persons" by Alexander Pope.


A Fantastic Cave Landscape with Odysseus and Calypso, Jan Brueghel the Elder, c. 1616 (Click the image to enlarge)

3 comments:

chayaruchama said...

You sure know how to pleasure a gal ;-)

Mary said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mary said...

Ok, let me try posting that again:

It's been a long time since I saw that Brueghel. Thanks, M!