Venus Transiens
Amy Lowell
Tell me,
Was Venus more beautiful
Than you are,
When she topped
The crinkled waves,
Drifting shoreward
On her plaited shell?
Was Botticelli’s vision
Fairer than mine;
And were the painted rosebuds
He tossed his lady
Of better worth
Than the words I blow about you
To cover your too great loveliness
As with a gauze
Of misted silver?
For me,
You stand poised
On the blue and buoyant air,
Cinctured by bright winds,
Treading the sunlight.
And the waves which precede you
Ripple and stir
The sands at my feet.
I am a great admirer of Botticelli, and of course Birth of Venus is one of my favorites! I was most disturbed to learn that the patron of this painting, the Medici Family, were notorious for having commisioned the first work in Italy which depicted a wholly pagan theme and a scandalously nude womn. Their excuse when society condemned them? – They said the Birth of Venus was actually the Baptism of Christ! I am so shocked at this blasphemous neo-platonism and am surprised that the Medicis got away with it!
Oh, the poem is just lovely… I love poems that mention a painting I know!
Thanks for sharing the interesting story behind this famous painting! I’d never heard it before.