MYSTERY: lo! betwixt the sun and moon <br />Astarte of the Syrians: Venus Queen <br />Ere Aphrodite was. In silver sheen <br />Her twofold girdle clasps the infinite boon <br />Of bliss whereof the heaven and earth commune: <br />And from her neck's inclining flower-stem lean <br />Love-freighted lips and absolute eyes that wean <br />The pulse of hearts to the spheres' dominant tune. <br />Torch-bearing, her sweet ministers compel <br />All thrones of light beyond the sky and sea <br />The witnesses of Beauty's face to be: <br />That face, of Love's all-penetrative spell <br />Amulet, talisman, and oracle,— <br />Betwixt the sun and moon a mystery.<br /><br />Dante Gabriel Rossetti<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/astarte-syriaca/
