To Eros
TO EROS by WILFRED OWEN
In that I loved you, Love, I worshipped you; In that I worshipped well, I sacrificed. All of most worth I bound and burnt and slew: The innocent small things, fair friends and Christ.
I slew all falser loves, I slew all true, For truth is the prime lie men tell a boy. Glory I cast away, as bridegrooms do Their splendid garments in their haste of joy.
But when I fell and held your sandalled feet, You laughed; you loosed away my lips; you rose. I heard the singing of your wings' retreat; And watched you, far-flown, flush the Olympian snows, Beyond my hoping. Starkly I returned To stare upon the ash of all I burned.
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| Author | Owen, Wilfred (1893-1918) |
|---|---|
| Title | To Eros |
| Item Date | 1983 |
| File type | Text |
| Content | Poem |
| Repository name | ProQuest |
| Repository URL | http://lion.chawyck.co.uk |
| Copyright | The Estate of Wilfred Owen. The Complete Poems and Fragments of Wilfred Owen edited by Jon Stallworthy first published by Chatto Windus, 1983. Preliminaries, introductory, editorial matter, manuscripts and fragments omitted. |
| First line | In that I loved you, Love, I worshipped you |
| Publication source | The Complete Poems and Fragments of Wilfred Owen |
| Publication editor | Stallworthy, Jon |
| Publishers | Chatto Windus |
| Publication place | London |
| Digital repository | The First World War Poetry Digital Archive |
| Reference URL | http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/collections/item/3366 |
