The eastern
sky, steps out the single One,
Hathoor and Aphrodite —whom I mock !
I may not follow
in the dimness— I
Chained unto matter by my evil will,
Delight of death
and carnal life.
But see !
He stirs,
as one beholding
in a dream
Some deadly serpent or foul basilisk
Sunning
its scales,
called kingly,
in the mire.
Strike, O my lover
!
I will drag thee down
Into mine own unending pain and hate
To be one devil more upon the earth. —
Come !
ye my serpents,
wrap his bosom round
With your entangling leprosy
!
And me,
Let me assume
the beloved limber shape.
The crested
head,
the jewelled
eyes of death,
And sinuous sinewy glitter of serpenthood,
That I may look once more into his face.
And, kissing, kill him !
Thus to hold him fast,
Drawing his human spirit into mine
For strength, for life, for poison !
Ah, my God
!
These
pangs,
these
torments !
See !
the
sleeper
wakes !
I am triumphant
!
For he reaches
out
The sleepy arms,
and turns the drowsy head
To catch the dew dissolving of my lip.
Wake,
lover, wake !
Thy Venus waits for thee
!
Draw back, look, hunger !—and thy mouth is mine
G
49