That even
the quick and dead,
Being mortal, mix in our eternal sea !
Distil we love from all the universe
!
Defy the early curse
!
Bid thorns and thistles mingle in delight
!
And from the athanor of death and pain
Bring golden showers of rain
To crown our bed withal,
the empire of the Night !
O Wife!
Incarnate
Beauty self-create!
O Life ! O Death
! Love unimaginable
!
Despair grows hope,
as hope grows desperate
;
And Heaven
bridges the great gulf of Hell.
Thy life is met with mine,
Transmuted,
grown divine.
Even in this,
the evil of the world
!
What agony is this.
The first undying kiss
From jewelled
eyes and lips in passion curled ?
O sister and O serpent and O mate.
Strike
the red fang of hate
Steady and strong, persistent to the heart
!
So shall this song be made
more terrible
With the soul-mastering
spell.
Choke,
stagger,
know
the Evil, Beauty's counterpart
!
Whose long-drawn
curse
runs venom in my veins ?
What dragon spouse
consumes
me with her breath ?
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