Edna St. Vincent Millay (22 February 1892 – 19 October 1950 / Rockland / Maine / United States)
Poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay : 30 / 165
Euclid Alone
Euclid alone has looked on Beauty bare.
Let all who prate of Beauty hold their peace,
And lay them prone upon the earth and cease
To ponder on themselves, the while they stare
At nothing, intricately drawn nowhere
In shapes of shifting lineage; let geese
Gabble and hiss, but heroes seek release
From dusty bondage into luminous air.
O blinding hour, O holy, terrible day,
When first the shaft into his vision shone
Of light anatomized! Euclid alone
Has looked on Beauty bare. Fortunate they
Who, though once only and then but far away,
Have heard her massive sandal set on stone.
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Submitted: Thursday, January 01, 2004
Read poems about / on: beauty, alone, peace, light, hero
Poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay : 30 / 165
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The 'her' in the last line refers to beauty, who Millay personifies as a woman, not to Euclid
I love this poem! It is so true that geometry is beautiful!
That's what energizes the mathematitian, amd perhaps the philosopher as well.
The only thing is the last line should say 'his massive sandal', not 'her'.