 | 'Twixt Kiss and Lip or Under the Sword. By the author of "Women Must Weep," [i.e. F. W. O. Ward] Third edition |  |
LESBIA.
I love thee, Lesbia, though I scarce know why,
For thou art old and ugly, and thy face,
With the dark terrors of that frowning eye,
Hath not one charm to wake one amorous sigh;
For thou art old and ugly, and thy face,
With the dark terrors of that frowning eye,
Hath not one charm to wake one amorous sigh;
But still the very absence of all grace,
The fearless features that no arts embrace,
And flaunt their native nakedness on high,
Make half sublime their sorry dwelling-place.
The fearless features that no arts embrace,
And flaunt their native nakedness on high,
Make half sublime their sorry dwelling-place.
I love, because thy soul hath dared to be
Its own and not another's, and is free
From false Convention and its fatal hold;
Its own and not another's, and is free
From false Convention and its fatal hold;
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And though thou art a skinflint and a scold,
Thy graceless form is yet more fair to me,
Than harlot Custom with its pearls and gold.
Thy graceless form is yet more fair to me,
Than harlot Custom with its pearls and gold.
| 'Twixt Kiss and Lip or Under the Sword. By the author of "Women Must Weep," [i.e. F. W. O. Ward] Third edition | |