Helen - A poem by H. D. - American Poems

H. D. - Helen

All Greece hates
the still eyes in the white face,
the lustre of the olives
where she stands,
and the white hands.

All Greece reviles
the wan face when she smiles,
hating it deeper still
when it grows wan and white,
remembering past enchantments
and past ills.

Greece sees unmoved,
God's daughter, born of love,
the beauty of cool feet
and slenderest knees,
could love indeed the maid,
only if she were laid,
white ash amid funeral cypresses.

Added: on December 15th, 2005 at 6:52 PM | Viewed: 7478 times | Comments and analysis of Helen by H. D. Comments (4)

Helen - Comments and Information
Poet: H. D. Poem: Helen Poem of the Day: Jul 12 2000 Comment 4 of 4, added on April 24th, 2007 at 9:43 PM. lawrence's poem helen points out the negative of the war. yes this war was incredible and fought over the beauty of a woman like helen of troy, but the war also brought about tragedy and despair, and that is what lawrence is conveying. mary kate from United States Comment 3 of 4, added on March 6th, 2006 at 1:10 PM. This poem represents the hatred Greece had for Helen and the ends to which they were willing to go to get rid of her. Yet in the end once the hatred was sated they glorified her name and that she was wrongly born into a destiny she could never have percieved. Helen is human and feels as we do yet her part in what took place makes her seem almost god like in the way her story unfolds. Kyra Garwood from United States Comment 2 of 4, added on December 15th, 2005 at 6:52 PM. "Helen" is a detached, analytical description of Helen of Troy, and a counterbalance to Poe's poem "To Helen." Poe wrote of Helen as a symbol of beauty and a representation of the classic elements of Greece and Rome that many of us admire. But we may glorify Helen and classic antiquity (Greece and Rome) to such an extent that we fail to see their shortcomings, and fail to grasp their human and institutional failures. HD is making a harsh statement: that Helen had to die and become ashes and bones in order to be glorified. Moreover, the way in which Poe represented her--as an ethereal, unhuman beauty, never really understood Helen as a human, a real person with faults and shortcomings. Consider that we in the U.S. have done the same thing with American Indians. We killed them off and stole their land, yet now have statues and museums to show how great they were. Must we kill things that are beautiful and worthy in their own right to be able to appreciate them? Wayne Weiss from United States More Comments >> Are you looking for more information on this poem? Perhaps you are trying to analyze it? The poem, Helen, has received 4 comments. Click here to read them, and perhaps post a comment of your own. Of course you can also always discuss poems by H. D. with others on the American Poems poetry forum!

Poem Info
Poet: H. D. Poem: Helen Last read: May 9 2008, 6:06PM Poem of the Day: Jul 12 2000 Viewed 7478 times. Added on December 15th, 2005 at 6:52 PM.

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