“Black was this queen as jet, yet on her eyes
Sweet loveliness in black attired lies.”
Torquato Tasso (1544–1595) Italian poet
Bruna e si, ma il bruno il bel non toglie.
Canto XII, stanza 21 (tr. Fairfax)
Gerusalemme Liberata (1581)
Source: Lady Midnight
“Black was this queen as jet, yet on her eyes
Sweet loveliness in black attired lies.”
Torquato Tasso (1544–1595) Italian poet
Bruna e si, ma il bruno il bel non toglie.
Canto XII, stanza 21 (tr. Fairfax)
Gerusalemme Liberata (1581)
Leo Tolstoy book Anna Karenina
Anna’s thoughts about Liza, Part III, Chapter 13
Anna Karenina (1875–1877; 1878)
Jim Morrison (1943–1971) lead singer of The Doors
The Lords and the New Creatures: Poems (1969), The Lords: Notes on Vision
Context: The Lords. Events take place beyond our knowledge or control. Our lives are lived for us. We can only try to enslave others. But gradually, special perceptions are being developed. The idea of the "Lords" is beginning to form in some minds. We should enlist them into bands of perceivers to tour the labyrinth during their mysterious nocturnal appearances. The Lords have secret entrances and they know disguises. But they give themselves away in minor ways. Too much glint of light in the eye. A wrong gesture. Too long and curious a glance.
“… but her eyes had had too much in them and his heart way too little for things to keep going.”
Jessica Bird (1969) U.S. novelist
Source: Lover Unleashed
“Too black for heav'n, and yet too white for hell.”
John Dryden book The Hind and the Panther
Pt. I, line 343.
The Hind and the Panther (1687)