As if they spelled mysterious charms
Whereby some tall gray ship should drift
Out to a windless, tideless sea
Motionless from eternity.
This then I seek, O woman-form!
O god embowelled in curves of bronze!
The shuddering of a sudden storm
To mix me with thy minions
The lost, who wait through endless night,
And wait in vain, to see the light.
For I am utterly consumed
In thee, in thee am broken up.
The life upon my lips that bloomed
Is crushed into a deadly cup,
Whose devilish spirit squats and gloats
Upon the thirst that rots our throats.
Gape wide, O hideous mouth, and suck —
This heart’s blood, drain it down, expunge
This sweltering life of mire and muck!
Squeeze out my passions as a sponge,
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