A Face That Launched a Thousand Ships

I could spin enchantments with poetry and prose,

I could capture all beauty with rose petals of gold,

Waxing lyrical unfettered, of the heavens and stars,

Things so near, things so far,

On and on I go, throughout the night,

Through dusks, through darkness,

Till the dawn of light,

But when you ask for praise, I have none to give

These words, they fail me,

In my time of need,

Should I recount the tale,

Of my falls and slips,

Of how I was regaled,

By the face that launched a thousand ships.

I laugh, I tease,

I joke and cajole,                                          

And yet I find myself ever falling,

Down through the rabbit-hole,

The line of your jaw,

The curve of your lips,

Oh I have lost my heart,

To the face that launched a thousand ships.

Do I praise your nature which beguiles

Do I mention how sweetly you smile,

A smile with soft promises, feathers and whips,

Upon this face that launched a thousand ships.

Tell me now, once and for all,

I’ve searched for the answer through day and nightfall

Tell me this and let it be done

I’ve searched and searched, and I’ve found none

I’ve tried not to love you,

I’ve tried not to fall,

I’ve tried to resist you,

I’ve done everything to stall,

But I come undone with a promise so fertile,

That glint in your eye, that mischievous smile,

A prey to your grace, to your feminine wile,

A stranger in my own heart, a vagrant, an exile,

And as I fall apart, I pose this final quip,

How does a man resist your charms,

And your face that launched a thousand ships.