48
THE EQUINOX
III
JEANNE
A PASTORAL
TO RA YMOND RADCL YFFE
“ Hey diddle diddle! the cat and the fiddle
!
The cow jumped over the moon‘”
I LAID mine ear against your heart,
Jeanne
I
A masterpiece of nature turned
A masterpiece of art,
With your blanched Egyptian beauty foiled
By the hungry eyes, and the red mouth soiled
By the honey of mine that your greed has spoiled,
Jeanne
The body a corpse and the soul inurned !
Against your heart I laid mine ear,
Jeanne!
And the clock went ticking, ticking.
How could I choose but hear,
Jeanne ?
Ah me
I what thoughts came pricking
Like spurs in the flanks of a weary horse?
Nor heart nor clock could feel remorse,
But kept their definite deadly course,
Jeanne I
Alas! for man, for his life’s disaster:
The clock beats fast, but a heart beats faster.