FOLLOW A WORD THROUGH THE COLLECTION
Search the corpus.
Phrase search ignores case and repeated whitespace. All-words search finds whole words anywhere on the same page. OCR errors can affect results.
24 matching pages
Page 1 of 21901 · PDF PAGE 10
…st to obsess me first that Easter Eve, When, from the contemplation of His pain, I turned to look into my own heart’s heave, And saw the bloody nails made fast again. Thou cam’st to obsess me first that Easter Eve ! The lustre of old jet was over thee, And through thy body coursed the scented blood ; Thy flesh was full of amorous ecstasy : Polished, and gloomier than some black full flood, The lustre of old jet was over thee ! In thy great brazen blackness I am bathed ; Through all thy veins, like curses, my blood runs ; In all thy flesh my nak…
1901 · PDF PAGE 50
…ayer ; Thy mouth is heavy with its riper smell Than clustered pomegranates beside a well ; The cruel savour of thy lust lies there, That blood may tinge thy kisses unaware To fill thy children with the hope of Hell. O evil beauty ! Heart of mystery Wherein my being toils, and in the blood Mixed with thy poison finds its subtle food, Intoxicating my divinity ! Disdainful hands behind thee, I may take What joys I will—but thou wilt not awake. L
1901 · PDF PAGE 37
THE COURT OF THE PROFANE. 25 Haggard and hateful, once again ; And taunted him. His bastard blood Quailed, but his violent soul withstood. He blenched, and then with eyes of flame, “ Who is on my side ? Who ? ” he said. Three eunuchs, passionless, grown tame, Grinned from behind her laughing head. “ Throw down that woman ! ” And my breath Caught as they flung her out to death. I think I died that moment. He, Foaming for vengeance and blood-lust, Laughed his coarse laugh of hideous glee. Her sweet bad body in the dust He trampled. Royal from the…
1901 · PDF PAGE 39
… the word Of God was utterly fulfilled. So, and not otherwise. I heard Her spirit cry, by death not stilled : “ My sin is perfect in thy blood, And thou and I have conquered God.” Now let me die, at last desired, At last beloved of thee my queen ; Now let me die, with blood attired, Thy servant naked and obscene ; To thy white skull, thy palms, thy feet, Clinging, dead, infamous, complete. Now let me die, to mix my soul With thy red soul, to join our hands, To weld us in one perfect whole, To link us with desirous bands. Now let me die, to mate…
1901 · PDF PAGE 35
…read her bosom to devise Fresh blossoms of the heart of hell, And secret joys of Jezebel. Her lips are fastened to my breast To suck out blood in feverish tides ; The token of her I possessed Still on my withered cheek abides. Thus slowly the desire grows To kill and have her yet—who knows ?
1901 · PDF PAGE 88
…mning most, had this one thought of ruth To save some dozens—Us : and by the skin Of teeth to save us from the devil’s gin— Repentance ! Blood ! Prayer ! Sackcloth ! This is truth.” Our parents answer jesting Pilate so. I am the meanest servant of the Christ : But, were I heathen, cannibal, profane, My cruel spirit had not sacrificed My children to this Moloch. I am plain ? “ Blasphemer ! ” “ Damned ! ” ? Undoubtedly—I know ! W
1901 · PDF PAGE 15
…in whose tawny hair The very breath of the Jehovah were To smite the Syrian, and to smite, and smite, And splash the sun’s face with the blood, for spite Of his downgoing, till I had made fair All glories of my master, I could bear To sink myself in the abundant night. O if these words were lightnings, and their flame Deluged the world, and drowned the seed of shame In these ill waters where alone Truth’s ark May float, where only lovers may embark, I were contented to abandon fame And live with love for ever in the dark. O
1901 · PDF PAGE 56
…e hour, one perfect hour, Remembrance and despair and hope to steep In the infernal potion of that flower, My poisonous passion for your blood ! Behold ! How utterly I yield, how gladly dower Our sin with my own spirit’s quenchéd gold, Clothe love with my own soul’s immortal power, Give thee my body as a fire to hold— O love, no words, no songs—your breast my bower !
1901 · PDF PAGE 36
24 THE SOUL OF OSIRIS. PART II. KNOW. When Ramoth-Gilead’s field Grew bloody with hot ranks of dead, I smote amain with sword and shield, My brows with mingled blood were red ; And on my cheek the kiss of hell, The hatred of my Jezebel. I waited many days. At last The rushing of a chariot grew Frightful through all the city vast, Men were afraid. But I—I knew Jehu was here, whose sword should dip Deep in my love’s adulterous lip. The spirit filled me. And behold ! I saw her dead stare to the skies ; I came to her ; she was not cold, But burning…
1901 · PDF PAGE 55
…pirit for your skin ! O bitter love, consuming all my will ! O love destroying, that hast drained my life Of all those fountains of dear blood that fill My heart ! O woman, would I call you wife ? Would I content you with one touch divine To flood your spirit with the clinging strife Y
1901 · PDF PAGE 104
92 THE SOUL OF OSIRIS. Red blood shall dye thee robes of red, Hell’s cries thy litany ! Thy mitre sits, divided strength, to end thy church and thee ! ” The third face spake and said : “ Welcome, O Man, to Death ! Thy little span of life is sped, Sighed out thy little breath. The worm that never dies is thine ; the fire that lingereth ! ” “ Three voices has thy frame, Their music is but one. Fool-demon, slave of night and shame, That canst not see the sun ! I am the Lord thy God : make thou homage and orison ! ” The wild heads sank in fear : Th…
1901 · PDF PAGE 127
…y clamorous cries of murder. Strange abysses Loom in the vista keen eyes penetrate, Vague forecasts of immeasurable fate. O thou belovéd blood, that wells and weeps ! O thou belovéd mouth, that beats and bleeds ! O mystic bosom where some serpent sleeps, Sweet mockery of a thousand saintlier creeds ! Even I, that breathe your perfume, taste your breath, Know, even this hour, ye are not life, but death ! No death ye bring more godlike than desire, When seas roar tempest-lashed, and foam is flung Raging on pitiless crags, and gloomy fire Lurks in…
1901 · PDF PAGE 17
… lovers’ lips, from lips withdrawn, Seek dimmer bosoms till the dawn. Yet on the central altar lies The sacrament of kneaded bread, With blood made one, the sacrifice To those, the living, who are dead— Strange gods and goddesses, that shed
1901 · PDF PAGE 139
…loom ! How ugly is this life of mine ! How slimes it in the terrene mud ! Clouds hide the beauty all-divine, The moonlight has a mist of blood. O Hathoor, Lady of the West, Take thy sad lover to thy breast ! Even the perfumes of the dawn Intoxicate, deceive the soul. Let every shadow be withdrawn ! Let there be Light, supreme and whole ! O Ra, thou golden Lord of Day, The Sun of Righteousness display ! The burden is so hard to bear. I took too adamant a cross ; This sackcloth rends my soul to wear ; My self-denial is as dross ! O Shu, that hold…
1901 · PDF PAGE 38
…Her murders and her blasphemies, Her whoredoms, God has paid at last ; Upon my bosom close she lies, Her carnal spirit holds me fast. My blood, my infamy, my pain, Seal my subjection and her reign. My veins poured out her marriage cup, For holy water her cruel tongue ; For blessing of white hands raised up, These perfumed infamies unsung ; For God’s breath, her sharp tainted breath ; For marriage bed, the bed of death. The hounds that scavenge, fierce and lean, Snarl in the moonlight ; in the sky
1901 · PDF PAGE 32
…and mocked at God. Where Ahab sat, but lo ! I saw No king, no tyrant to be curst ; But she, who filled me with blind awe, She, for whose blood my thin veins thirst ;
1901 · PDF PAGE 121
…en The solemn glories of your secret mind, Making them pure, and wise ; return ye then Unto your proper kind, Having thus offered water, blood, and tears, For the remission of our carrion years. So deepen all the mountains : even so The wandering shadows close upon the day ; The sunlight burns its fading ruby glow On the chaotic way. Night falls, and I must tread the dizzy steep Again, to plunge to the devouring deep. The blessing of the Highest shall be set On your white heads, O monarchs of the snow ! The blessing of the Highest, lightening y…
1901 · PDF PAGE 132
…hered Time, Bring Night, and bring Eternity, and stay With white wings pointing where tired feet may climb : Even the pathway where shed blood ran deep To build red roses in the land of Sleep. O guardian of the pallid hours of night ! O tireless watcher of the smitten noon ! O sworded with the majesty of light, O girded with the glory of the moon ! Angel of absolute splendour ! Link of mine Old weary spirit with the All-Divine ! Ship that shalt carry me by many winds Driven on the limitless ocean ! Mighty sword, By which I force that barrier of…
1901 · PDF PAGE 128
… body—Nay ! That death were twilight, and the gate of Day ! No death ye bring as his, that grips the flag In desperate fingers, and with bloody sword Flames up the thundering breach, while bastioned crag, Glacis, and pent-house belch their monstrous horde Of hideous engines shattering—this strife Clears the straight road of Glory and of Life ! Nay : but the hateful death that stings the soul Into rebellion ; the insensate death That chokes its own delight with words that roll Mightier-mouthed than the archangel’s breath ; The death that murders…
1901 · PDF PAGE 108
… of writhing scorpions in the womb Of deadlier terrors : how a charnel-light Gleams on his beetle frame ! What poison drips Of slime and blood from his disastrous lips ! What oceans of decaying water steam For his vast essence ! And a voice rolls forth With miserable fury from that stream Of horror : “ Thou hast called me by the beam Of glory, by the devastating wrath Of thine accurséd godhead : tell me then My Name ! Thou hardiest of the Sons of Men ! ” “ Thy name is—stay ! thou liest ! I discern In Thee no terror that my spells evoke. Begone,…