ASTARTE SYRIACA (FOR A PICTURE)

ASTARTE SYRIACA

(FOR A PICTURE)

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 sphere’s 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.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti ASTARTE SYRIACA Oil on canvas. 1876–1877 Manchester City Galleries

Данте Габриэль Россетти ACTAPTA СИРИЙСКАЯ Холст, масло. 1876–1877 Манчестерская художественная галерея