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…the threshold past ; I am within the palace I have prayed At last. Like scudding winds, when skies are overcast, Came the soft breath of Love, that might not fade. O Love, whose magic whispers bind me fast, O Love, who hast the kiss of Love betrayed, Hide my poor blush beneath thy pinions vast, Since thou hast come, nor left me more a maid, At last.
YET TIME TO TURN 51 YET TIME TO TURN Brighter than snow on glittering Alps, the soul Of my lost love was, bluer than the haze Of those same hills, more violent and deep Her eyes’ clear gaze, Dreaming of hidden wonders ; and the goal Of life grew luminous o’er Time’s empurpled steep. She loved me then ; she loves me now, afar. Ah, she knew not ! and I, so steeped and stained With fierce sins, knew myself unworthy of The heart I gained, And, a lost mariner whose polar star He is ashamed to look to, cast away her love. I would not have her love a …
…; I will drink of the fount of our pleasure Licking round and about and above Till its streams pour me out their full measure, O Lucius, love ! Thou shalt clasp me and clamber above me And press me with eager desire, Thou shalt kiss me and clip me and love me With a love beyond infinite fire, Thou shalt pierce to the portals of passion And satiate thy longing and lust In the fearless Athenian fashion, A rose amid dust. We will taste all delights and caresses And know all the secrets of joy, From the love-look that chastity blesses To the lusts …
72 A PAEAN IN THE SPRINGTIDE Pleasure and pain are made one, a delirious noble emotion ; Love dies before he grows manly, dawn never yields to the sun. Love in a night shall live and die, Love in a day shall wing and fly ; Love in the Spring shall last an hour, Easily fades a spring-tide flower. Where are the blooms of frost, hoary and bright and vestal ; Virginal lips not kissed, flowers unbidden to bud ? Ah ! we have slain their beams, as our low heads lazily nestle, Where the dark home of Love is, where the impatient blood Spurts at the furi…
A PAEAN IN THE SPRINGTIDE 73 Sweeter than lips could have told, who loved better only to kiss ; Sweeter than hands could have written, who took delight in the glories Fierce of a triple embrace, a fadeless implacable bliss. Love is a sword whose blade is red, Love is a deed whose fruit is dead ; Love is a tiger, fierce of power, Easily fades a spring-tide flower. Death shall come slow and soft, with the stealthy tread of a leopard ; While the few stars have grown dim, as he seeks for an innocent prey. Death shall pounce soon on the fold, where …
…ow with shy sweet fire, Song lingers on thy beauty till it dies In awe and longing on the smitten lyre : Maid of dark eyes. Grant me thy love, earth’s last surpassing prize, Me, cast upon the faggots of love’s pyre For love of the white bosom that underlies The subtle passion of thy snowy attire, The shadowy secret of thine amorous thighs, The inmost shrine of my supreme desire, Maid of dark eyes ! 2 Boy of red lips, pale face, and golden hair, Of dreamy eyes of love, and finger-tips Rosy with youth, too fervid and too fair, Boy of red lips.
26 THE RAINBOW Come down, O Lord God, and deliver Our souls from the wheel and the chain, That Love may lie fragrant and shaded, And Joy may spread wings unto flight, And Peace stand above, unupbraided, As splendid as night. No longer the sun shall cast shadow, No longer the flower shall lack rain, The word shall be fair as a meadow, And Love know no tincture of pain ; The Glory of God shall be on us, And over the kingdom unpriced The Spirit of Love is upon us, A crucified Christ ! O rapture ! O glory ! O gladness ! When Satan is fled from the …
BALLADE DE LA JOLIE MARION 45 BALLADE DE LA JOLIE MARION It is a sweet thing to be loved, Although my sighs in absence wake, Although my saddening heart is moved, I smile and bear for love’s dear sake. My songs their wonted music make, Joyous and careless, songs of youth, Because the sacred lips of both Are met to kiss the last good-bye, Because sweet glances weep for ruth That we must part, and love must die. Remembrance of love’s long delights Is to remember sighs and tears, Yet I will think upon the nights I whispered into passionate ears Th…
…ks on the sly, And kiss their genitals, and cry : “ Ah ! Ganymede, grant me one night ! ” This is the one sweet mystery : A strong man’s love is my delight ! To feel him clamber on me, laid Prone on the couch of lust and shame, To feel him force me like a maid And his great sword within me flame, His breath as hot and quick as fame ; To kiss him and to clasp him tight ; This is my joy without a name, A strong man’s love is my delight. To feel again his love grow grand Touched by the langour of my kiss ; To suck the hot blood from my gland Mingl…
…we wander, over dale and how, Sweet with green sward, faint flower, and tender tree. There all the winter may we idly dream Still of our love, and there forgetfulness Of the past sorrow may steal o’er thy brow In the new birth of stainless happiness, Rich harvest of the blossoms desire, Satisfied alway, yet for ever fresh In hearts so passionate, and there may’st thou Love to thy fulness, nor for ever tire Of linking me to thee with dainty mesh Of auburn ripples of delicious fire. 5 Doubt not, dear love, nor hesitate to say ; Blush if thou wilt…
22 A FRAGMENT Th’ Eternity of an immortal self That is, and shall be while the stars endure, Or while a God of Love is pitiful Of all men’s sorrows, and most happy in Their joys— She. Ah ! joys are fleeting !— He. But our love Is anchored in the portals of the dawn Where heaven begins. She. And heaven begins with us This day. Behold the flowers, whose kindly gaze Of modest love is on us as we stand, And clasp fond hands before high Heaven to swear Truth an eternal bond, no parchment scroll Of perishable matter ill devised And scored upon with p…
… or obtain ; Cover the white limbs ashamed with the fiery impas- sionate tresses, Once for a bed to delight, now for a covering to pain. Love is a fruit with rotted core, Love is a thing shall be no more ; Love is a bride of a bitter dower, Easily fades a spring-tide flower. Where shall be Hylas then ? for his lonely lips are sighing, Vainly in hell for love, vainly for days gone by ; Where the incarnate flame of Lesbian lovers dying, Then where the world is past, and Heaven or hell draw nigh ? Heaven with cold and loveless lips, though his fru…
AD LYDIAM, UT SECUM A MARITO FUGERET 31 Grow hot with love-thoughts—let the word be said : Between shy finger whisper me the “ yea ! ” My soul will leap to hear, as thine to speak. Remember Love, forget the loveless bed ; Forget thy husband, and the cruel wreck Of thy dear life on Wedlock’s piteous sands ; Love’s all in all, link on the golden bands Forged in heaven without flaw or fleck. I know thine answer by these amorous hands That touch me thus to tempt me, by the kiss Whose sudden passion burns upon my neck Thy heart clings to me in perfe…
A JEALOUS LOVER 43 Ripples break foamless, where the golden coasts Echo their mellow cadence. Such delight Is on me I would fain sigh into sleep Until my love comes forth to dream with me Of silent words of love and peopled stars Where we may live and love and never weep Nor yet be weary. The last ruby bars Are sunk beneath the sea. The shadows creep More on me as I quicken with desire My love is all of gold, my faith is deep Lit with my heart’s imperishable fire. 3 Pale spectres of the stars, corpse-lights, bad-ghosts Sicken the icy glamour of…
Á¼±ÆÁ¿´¯Ä¿Å O½±Á 113 Ah ! Love ! how fierce that night ! With what unsung desire Thy lips and mouth were bright, In mine eye to give light, And fire to kindle fire. Ah Love ! nor king nor queen Of mine exhaustless flame, But comrade of my teen, Spouse of that epicene Incontinence of shame. Twin Love ! Soul’s dual spouse, Dream-serpent of my life, Rose-garland of my brows Within that ivory house, Sex with itself at strife. Were I a wanton stream, Thou mightest bathe in me, Yet in that happy dream Methought my heart did deem We mingled utte…
114 Á¼±ÆÁ¿´¯Ä¿Å O½±Á Thy love-gift I will wear, Thy joys my soul shall share, Being made one with thee. So, love, the days may keep My nameless love from me ; Yet over slumber’s deep I will sail into sleep Thither to lie by thee, Hold thee with arms that cleave Lock thee in limbs that leap, Chain thee with lips that leave Kisses of blood to weave Castles of hope in sleep. Poppy ! best flower whose bud Sends dreams to men that die, I drain thy drowsy flood That our impatient blood May mingle utterly. So, Hermes, thou art wed, So, Aphrodite…
18 DÉDICACE Lie close ; no pity, but a little love. Kiss me but once and all my pain is paid. Hurt me or soothe, stretch out one limb above Like a strong man who would constrain a maid. Touch me ; I shudder and my lips turn back Over my shoulder if so be that thus My mouth may find thy mouth, if aught there lack To thy desire, till love is one with us. God ! I shall faint with pain, I hide my face For shame. I am disturbed, I cannot rise, I breathe hard with thy breath ; thy quick embrace Crushes ; thy teeth are agony—pain dies In deadly passio…
A PAEAN IN THE SPRINGTIDE 71 A PAEAN IN THE SPRINGTIDE Now is the triumph of Love, now is the day of his guerdon, Now when the blossoms are full on the bountiful delicate spray ; Now has the year sprung aloft and shaken the frost and its burden, April is come with his showers, sun laughs and promises May. Newly the bird sings of Love, newly he wooeth a maiden, Newly the heart of a boy leaps, and his eyes catch its fire. Light is his laugh as the sea, with no sad remem- brances laden ; Light as the sea, and as fierce and fickle is grown his desi…
42 A JEALOUS LOVER A JEALOUS LOVER I I have an idol wrought of stainless gold Before whose feet I bow, in whose delight I am content to live, whose spells of might Are smiles that gleam, are tears that glisten cold On the fair cheek that blushes if I praise ; Are warm ripe kisses in the softer hours When love is perfect blossom of sweet flowers, Are shadowed glances of pure lovelight rays From clear blue eyes, are wonderful caresses When love is golden autumn of sweet fruit. What other worship can usurp my days When I may lie amid her sunny tre…
28 AD LYDIAM, UT SECUM A MARITO FUGERET AD LYDIAM, UT SECUM A MARITO FUGERET I The bird has chosen, and the world of spring Under Love’s banner is enrolled, but thou, Chained to the iron couch of wedlock fast, Art mourning while all nature else doth sing The deep delights of Love. Still on thy brow Lurks the dark shade, thy smile is overcast With fear of the world’s thought, and lips of love Pale at that spectre, imminent, immense, Cold Chastity, the child of Impotence, And eyes grow dim with grey distrust thereof. Forget, dear heart, forget ; …