22 
ODE TO SAPPHO 
 
As we lie and behold 
All the wonders untold 
That the joys of desire 
In their secrets enfold, 
As the pillars of fire 
On the ocean of old ! 
O Lesbian maiden ! 
 
The delight of thy lips 
Is the voice of the Spring 
That the nightingales sing 
Over Winter’s eclipse, 
While my fingers enring 
The white limbs of thy sleep 
And my lips suck the lips 
Of the house of my dream, 
And press daintily deep, 
Till the joys are supreme 
That thine amorous mouth 
On the home of thy love 
Would exhaust the fierce drouth 
Of the rivers thereof, 
Till thy white body quiver 
With mystic emotion 
As the star-blossoms shiver 
On silvery river 
Rushed into the ocean ! 
O Lesbian maiden !