Gods/Heroes - Italy - Milton,Cupid,Psyche...
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Myth: Mythology: Age of Fable, Gods and Heroes

Index | pg. 23 |Previous Page - Next Page

Milton,Cupid,Psyche ...

Milton alludes to the story of Cupid and Psyche in the conclusion of his Comus:--

"Celestial Cupid, her famed son, advanced,
Holds his dear Psyche sweet entranced,
After her wandering labors long,
Till free consent the gods among
Make her his eternal bride;
And from her fair unspotted side
Two blissful twins are to be born,
Youth and Joy; so Jove hath sworn."

The allegory of the story of Cupid and Psyche is well presented in the beautiful lines of T. K. Hervey:--

"They wove bright fables in the days of old
When reason borrowed fancy's painted wings;
When truth's clear river flowed o'er sands of gold,
And told in song its high and mystic things!
And such the sweet and solemn tale of her
The pilgrim-heart, to whom a dream was given.
That led her through the world, Love's worshipper,
To seek on earth for him whose home was heaven!

"In the full city, by the haunted fount,
Through the dim grotto's tracery of spars,
'Mid the pine temples, on the moonlit mount,
Where silence sits to listen to the stars;
In the deep glade where dwells the brooding dove,
The painted valley, and the scented air,
She heard far echoes of the voice of Love,
And found his footsteps' traces everywhere.

"But never more they met! Since doubts and fears,
Those phantom-shapes that haunt and blight the earth,
Had come 'twixt her, a child of sin and tears,
And that bright spirit of immortal birth;
Until her pining soul and weeping eyes
Had learned to seek him only in the skies;
Till wings unto the weary heart were given,
And she became Love's angel bride in heaven!"

The story of Cupid and Psyche first appears in the works of
Apuleius, a writer of the second century of our era. It is
therefore of much more recent date than most of the legends of
the Age of Fable. It is this that Keats alludes to in his Ode to
Psyche.

"O latest born and loveliest vision far
Of all Olympus' faded hierarchy!
Fairer than Phoebe's sapphire-regioned star
Or Vesper, amorous glow-worm of the sky;
Fairer than these, though temple thou hast none,
Nor altar heaped with flowers;
Nor virgin-choir to make delicious moan
Upon the midnight hours;
No voice, no lute, no pipe, no incense sweet,
>From chain-swung censer teeming;
No shrine, no grove, no oracle, no heat
Of Pale-mouthed prophet dreaming."

In Moore's Summer Fete, a fancy ball is described, in which one of the characters personated is Psyche.

" not in dark disguise to-night
Hath our young heroine veiled her light;
For see, she walks the earth, Love's own.
His wedded bride, by holiest vow
Pledged in Olympus, and made known
To mortals by the type which now
Hangs glittering on her snowy brow,
That butterfly, mysterious trinket,
Which means the soul (though few would think it),
And sparkling thus on brow so white,
Tells us we've Psyche here to-night."





Index | pg. 23 |Previous Page - Next Page

Italy Hotels - Italy Hostels - Italy Sights

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Other popular Italy book pages:

Manzo sugo di Barbabietole (Fillet Beef)
Manzo in Insalata (Marinated Beef)
Fillets of Beef Pistacchios - Filetto
Scalopini di Riso (Beef with Risotto)
Tenerumi alla Piemontese (Tendons of Veal)
Bragiuole di Vitello (Veal Cutlets)
Costolette alla Manza (Veal Cutlets)








Italy Travel Guide
A good starting point for researching Italy for travel or reference.

Venice - Piazza St. Marco (St. Mark's Square)
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Venice - Walking around Venice Streets
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Venice - From the Train Station to St. Mark's 2
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Florence and Venice
Arno River in Florence
Campania