"Could we deftly lift the curtain / Which the cunning serpent draws, / Like the veil of night about us, / We would find that paradise, / Like a flower in winter, lies / 'Neath the stubbles of our souls."
— Beadle, Samuel Alfred (1857-1932)
Work Title
Place of Publication
Jackson, Miss.
Publisher
W. A. Scott
Date
1912
Metaphor
"Could we deftly lift the curtain / Which the cunning serpent draws, / Like the veil of night about us, / We would find that paradise, / Like a flower in winter, lies / 'Neath the stubbles of our souls."
Metaphor in Context
May be, after all, old Eden
Is wrapped within our meaner selves
Hid beneath our pride ard envy;
That the sword which us repels;
Is our secret wickedness:
Could we deftly lift the curtain
Which the cunning serpent draws,
Like the veil of night about us,
We would find that paradise,
Like a flower in winter, lies
'Neath the stubbles of our souls,
"So near and yet so far away",
For who has ever purged his heart,
Of all the guilt that in it lies,
Though the purging would impart
To him the bliss of paradise?
Who does not harbor in his breast
The fruitage of forbidden things
Culled from beauty's lips and heart,
And folded in between the leaves
Of memory's roll of reveries:
A charm, a hope, a dream!
(p. 126, ll. 45-66)
Is wrapped within our meaner selves
Hid beneath our pride ard envy;
That the sword which us repels;
Is our secret wickedness:
Could we deftly lift the curtain
Which the cunning serpent draws,
Like the veil of night about us,
We would find that paradise,
Like a flower in winter, lies
'Neath the stubbles of our souls,
"So near and yet so far away",
For who has ever purged his heart,
Of all the guilt that in it lies,
Though the purging would impart
To him the bliss of paradise?
Who does not harbor in his breast
The fruitage of forbidden things
Culled from beauty's lips and heart,
And folded in between the leaves
Of memory's roll of reveries:
A charm, a hope, a dream!
(p. 126, ll. 45-66)
Categories
Provenance
Browsing in UVA E-Text
Citation
Beadle, Samuel Alfred. Lyrics of the Under World. Jackson, Miss., 1912. W. A. Scott. University of Virginia Library Digital Collections. 1994. <Link to UVA Electronic Text>
Date of Entry
06/11/2009
