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…itter craft Is mine, he saith, O soldiers of Japan ! I am the brothel-knave of death, The grimly courtesan. Now who will up and kiss her lips, Or grip her breast and bone? The subtle life she shears and snips Is harder gained than gone; The lover’s laughter whom she clips Is but a dying groan. She lieth not on a gilded bed In the city without the city. 82
…. Afloat are the gales In our slumberous sails On the beautiful breast of the Nile. We have swooned through the midday, exhausted By the lips—they are whips—of the sun, The horizon befogged and befrosted By the haze and the grays and the dun Of the whirlings of sand Let loose on the land By the wind that is born of the sun. 5I
… girt him like fine gold. The fifth was ruddy and fair of face; He held his tongue a space. The sixth was many-coloured, but He kept his lips well shut. The last was like a full great moon; He knew, but uttered not, his rune. Il. Now when the time was fully come The dying man was dumb, But with his failing hand did make A sign: my heart doth ache. At that the kingly man, the fourth, Rose up and spat against the North. Then made the dying man a sign: My head is running like strong wine. 92
…oul! The sterile force of bronze and gold Bends to my passion, as it grips With feverish claws the metal cold, And burns upon the brazen lips That, parted like a poppy bud, Have gemméd curves like moons of blood. The mazes of her many arms Delude the eye; they seem to shift 7o
…k to man! She danceth? Say she doth float! Rapture is gold in her eyes! She sigheth honey-sweet sighs Of the glory of Japan! Red are her lips and large, The delicate courtesan !” Then the officer’s voice Caught in his throat for joy. Like birds in spring that rejoice, Clearly and softly the boy Whispered : ‘‘ Now, let us charge!” Then leaping sheer o’er trench and mound, They rise as a single man; They bound like antelopes over the ground For the glory of Japan. With glittering steel they wheel—they reel? They are steady again and straight! The…
…ait 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, a1
… To drink, to dally, to desire, to dance. Ah! beautiful and firm your hips, Habib! ah! coolthsome your caress, Zuleikha! soft your honey lips— The tongue of pleasure subtly sips The wine that age distils, and calls distress. 66
…e upon the edge Of the opalescent waters slantwise seen. This oval sealed with grave magnificence Stamped you my queen. Thus looked your lips to one Who stood a casual on life’s slippery ledge, A blind bat hanging from the tree of sense Head downward, gorged with sweet banana juice, Indifferent to—incapable of—aught Beyond these simple reflexes. Is thought, Even the highest thought, of any use? IV. We are not discussing metaphysics now. I see below the beautiful low brow 1 Rembrandt. 41
(Low too for cunning, like enough!) your lips, A scarlet splash of murder. From them drips This heart’s blood; you have fed your fill on me. I am exhaust, a pale, wan phantom floating Aimless in air, than which I am thinner. You I see, more brilliant, of that sanguine hue (If anything be true that I can see). Full fed; you smile, a smile obscenely gloating On the voluptuous wreck your lust hath wrought. See the loose languor of precipitate thought These versicles exhale! How rude the rime! There is no melody; the tune and time Are broken. Thirt…
… forgotten long; Talked of his ruined life—half as a joke— But I— But I—it is my whole heart’s song! I love you when I think of his pale lips Twitching, and all his curls of gold awry; Your smile of poison as he sighs and sips; Your half-scared laughter as his heart-beats die— Let him creep on, a shattered, ruined thing! A ship dismasted on a dreadful sea! And you—afar—some word of largesse fling Pitifully worded for more cruelty! His death lends savour to our passionate life ; His is the heart I taste upon your tongue; 75
…life—a store ! An ever-running fountain-head of virtue To heal my soul and buckler it and harden! Your body is like ivory and silk! Your lips are like the poppies in the garden! Your face is like a wreath of flowers to crown me! Your eyes are wells wherein I long to drown me! Your hair is like a waterfall above me, A waterfall of sunset! In your bosom I hear the racing of a heart to love me. Your blood is beating like a wind-blown blossom With rapture that you mingle it in mine! Your breath is fresh as foam and keen as wine! Intoxicating glorie…