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Selene

By Arthur Hugh Clough

Topics: classic

My beloved, is it nothing     Though we meet not, neither can,     That I see thee, and thou me,     That we see, and see we see,     When I see I also feel thee;     Is it nothing, my beloved!     Thy luminous clear beauty     Brightens on me in my night,     I withdraw into my darkness     To allure thee into light.     About me and upon me I feel them pass and stay,     About me, deep into me, every lucid tender ray.     And thou, thou also feelest     When thou stealest     Shamefaced and half afraid     To the chamber of thy shade,     Thou in thy turn,     Thou too feelest     Something follow, something yearn,     A full orb blaze and burn.     My full orb upon thine,     As thine erst, gently smiling,     Softly wooing, sweetly wiling,     Gleamed on mine;     So mine on thine in turn     When thou feelest blaze and burn,     Is it nothing, my beloved?     My beloved, is it nothing     When I see thee and thou me,     When we each other see,     Is it nothing, my beloved?     Closer, closer come unto me.     Shall I see thee and no more?     I can see thee, is that all?     Let me also,     Let me feel thee,     Closer, closer, my beloved,     Come unto me, come to me, come     O cruel, cruel lot, still thou rollest, stayest not,     Lookest onward, lookst before,     Yet I follow, evermore.     Oh, cold and cruel fate, thou rollest on thy way,     Scarcely lookest, will not stay,     From thine alien way.     The inevitable motion     Bears me forth upon the line     Whose course I cannot see.     I must move as it conveys me     Evermore. It so must be.     O cold one, and I round thee     Revolve, round only thee,     Straining ever to be nearer     While thou evadest still;     Repellest still, O cold one,     Nay, but closer, closer, closer,     My beloved, come, come, come!     The inevitable motion     Carries both upon its line,     Also you as well as me.     What is best, and what is strongest,     We obey. It so must be.     Cruel, cruel, didst thou only     Feel as I feel evermore,     A force, though in, not of me,     Drawing inward, in, in, in.     Yea, thou shalt though, ere all endeth,     Thou shalt feel me closer, closer,     My beloved, close, close to thee,     Come to thee, come, come, come!     The inevitable motion     Bears us both upon its line     Together, you as me,     Together and asunder,     Evermore. It so must be.

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"My beloved, is it nothing..."

This evocative piece by Arthur Hugh Clough, titled "Selene", represents a masterful exploration of classic. The lines capture a profound emotional resonance... ### Why We Love This Line At Linespedia, we believe that poetry is the ultimate sanctuary for the soul...

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Author:Arthur Hugh Clough

"My beloved, is it nothing..." by Arthur Hugh Clough

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Arthur Hugh Clough

About Arthur Hugh Clough

Arthur Hugh Clough (1819–1861) was an English poet whose work explores Victorian doubt and moral uncertainty. His poems "Say Not the Struggle Naught Availeth" and "The Latest Decalogue" are sharp, thoughtful, and still widely anthologized.

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"Cease, empty Faith, the Spectrum saith,     I was,..."

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