Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Here you will find the Poem Astarte Syriaca of poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Astarte Syriaca

MYSTERY: lo! betwixt the sun and moon 
Astarte of the Syrians: Venus Queen 
Ere Aphrodite was. In silver sheen 
Her twofold girdle clasps the infinite boon 
Of bliss whereof the heaven and earth commune: 
And from her neck's inclining flower-stem lean 
Love-freighted lips and absolute eyes that wean 
The pulse of hearts to the spheres' dominant tune.
Torch-bearing, her sweet ministers compel 
All thrones of light beyond the sky and sea 
The witnesses of Beauty's face to be: 
That face, of Love's all-penetrative spell 
Amulet, talisman, and oracle,? 
Betwixt the sun and moon a mystery.