The Naked And The ****

Robert GravesRobert Graves

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For me, the naked and the ****
(By lexicographers construed
As synonyms that should express
The same deficiency of dress
Or shelter) stand as wide apart
As love from lies, or truth from art. Lovers without reproach will gaze
On bodies naked and ablaze;
The Hippocratic eye will see
In nakedness, anatomy;
And naked shines the Goddess when
She mounts her lion among men. The **** are bold, the **** are sly
To hold each treasonable eye.
While draping by a showman's trick
Their dishabille in rhetoric,
They grin a mock-religious grin
Of scorn at those of naked skin. The naked, therefore, who compete
Against the **** may know defeat;
Yet when they both together tread
The briary pastures of the dead,
By Gorgons with long whips pursued,
How naked go the sometime ****!
Robert Graves
About the poet

Robert Graves

1895 - 1985/EnglishRobert von Ranke Graves (July 24, 1895 –December 7, 1985) was an English scholar, best remembered for his work as a poet and novelist. During his long life, he produced more than 140 works in total. He was the son of Alfred Perceval Graves,…

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