Euclid Alone Poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay
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.
(Euclid Alone by Edna St. Vincent Millay.) **Enjoyed simply for the reading.
An interesting poem although not one of my favorites by the poet. still an enjoyable read.
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'.
The last line refers to Beauty herself, it's her massive sandal foot we hear, not Euclid's, so the female pronoun seems correct. (Though I'm not sure there was a Greek goddess specifically for beauty - was there?)
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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4/24/2024 9:09:20 AM # 1.0.0.1119
nice sonnet. Thank you for sharing.