Quoting Martin Walker <[log in to unmask]>:
> O strange face there in the glass!
> O ribald company, O saintly host,
> O sorrow-swept my fool,
> What answer? O ye myriad
> That strive and play and pass,
> Jest, challenge, counterlie!
> I?I?I?
> And ye?
>
> [author?]
thanks for the above. I see on the Web this below is much taught still...
Max
Robert Graves
The Face in the Mirror
Grey haunted eyes, absent-mindedly glaring
From wide, uneven orbits; one brow drooping
Somewhat over the eye
Because of a missile fragment still inhering,
Skin-deep, as a foolish record of old-world fighting.
Crookedly broken nose — low tackling caused it;
Cheeks, furrowed; coarse grey hair, flying frenetic;
Forehead, wrinkled and high;
Jowls, prominent; ears, large; jaw, pugilistic;
Teeth, few; lips, full and ruddy; mouth, ascetic.
I pause with razor poised, scowling derision
At the mirrored man whose beard needs my attention,
And once more ask him why
He still stands ready, with a boy’s presumption,
To court the queen in her high silk pavilion.
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