Poem: Epitaph ~ Elinor Wylie

June 25, 2019 | Filed Under Poem for Hela | 2 Comments

Epitaph
~ Elinor Wylie

For this she starred her eyes with salt
And scooped her temples thin,
Until her face shone pure of fault
From the forehead to the chin.

In coldest crucibles of pain
Her shrinking flesh was fired
And smoothed into a finer grain
To make it more desired.

Pain left her lips more clear than glass;
It colored and cooled her hand.
She lay a field of scented grass
Yielded as pasture land.

For this her loveliness was curved
And carved as silver is:
For this she was brave: but she deserved
A better grave than this.

2 Responses to “Poem: Epitaph ~ Elinor Wylie”

  1. Can someone help me understand the “for this she was brave” line?

  2. It’s related to Wylie’s story, “The Cardinal’s Nephew”, in which a cardinal wishes for a nephew. A Venetian glassblower makes him a nephew out of glass. A young girl falls in love with the statue. Since the glassblower cannot make the glass man come to life, the girl decides to become made of glass herself to be with her beloved.

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