| George William (“A. E.”) Russell (1867–1935). Collected Poems by A.E. 1913. |
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| 23. The Symbol Seduces |
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| THERE in her old-world garden smiles | |
| A symbol of the world’s desire, | |
| Striving with quaint and lovely wiles | |
| To bind to earth the soul of fire. | |
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| And while I sit and listen there, | 5 |
| The robe of Beauty falls away | |
| From universal things to where | |
| Its image dazzles for a day. | |
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| Away! the great life calls; I leave | |
| For Beauty, Beauty’s rarest flower; | 10 |
| For Truth, the lips that ne’er deceive; | |
| For Love, I leave Love’s haunted bower. | |
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