University of Virginia Library

WOMEN

FIRST

[I
She said: “O take me! Let my life become]

She said: “O take me! Let my life become
Part of your pleasure. As the rose that leaf
By leaf falls scented from the crimson sheaf
You loved, even so, until my life is numb
And bare with giving, till the total sum
Of joy my life contains, to serve your need
Is spent, till all the music of my reed
Is played to please you, till you leave me, dumb—
So am I yours! to love you till you tire
Of love. I give so little!—yet the whole:
The best and worst of me, my body and soul!
O take me! Yours the nobler part, to take
Unrecompensed my prodigal desire
That pains me and would kill me for your sake!”

[II
He said: “Enough! I take you and repay]

He said: “Enough! I take you and repay
Nothing you give, but waste your sacrifice;
I let your body and soul alone suffice,
Your fierce love's largess lure me for a day.
Held in my power your soul shall cease to pray,
Your lips forget their pieties to entice
My lips, and death at last shall film with ice
Your desolate heart once drained and cast away.
Come to me! You shall utterly be turned
Into my pleasure, till my satiate sense
Sickens to see you, till your flesh is burned
Dry in my service, till the soul you staked
Against a careless kiss is lost, till hence
I drive you, with the thirst you nourished, slaked!”

[III
She said: “Thank God! Beloved, I merely ask]

She said: “Thank God! Beloved, I merely ask
Sufferance for love and me. My soul? I stake
It, swift to lose the bauble for your sake,
To spill the liquor as I break the flask!”
She held the cup: then suddenly the masque
Shattered before him, and the woman, real
And soul-transfigured with matured ideal,
Faced him—divine to meet her mortal task.
As sunlight breaks thro' vistas grey with rain,
The breathless truth broke briefly on his brain.
He paused and felt her fail to understand.
She, desolate, shuddered watching him depart;
The miracle of love's divine command
Filled him, the gospel of the human heart!

SECOND

[I
“Sweet from my sin I rise before you, rise]

“Sweet from my sin I rise before you, rise,
Wild as the vision and savour of the sea,
Bland as the shadow of sleep's euthanasy
Shed between burning lids and aching eyes!
Clothed in love's fire that damns and purifies,
Mistress and slave, I yield me utterly,—
Yours by the gods my love reveals to me,
The gods my pitiless passion crucifies!
Love for love's sake my body is born again
Thrilled with a new virginity, my soul
Lends my desire the dignity of pain.
For you my lips are fire, my naked breast
Profound as sleep and heavens of splendour roll
Over me, shattered with divine unrest!”

[II
He said, “I take you. Yet the laughter slips]

He said, “I take you. Yet the laughter slips,
Mocking your sacrifice. Be still! The phrase
Is vain since sense with equal joy repays
Loss of the soul we crush between our lips.
Where 's soul, my Mistress, when thy finger-tips
Drip wine till candles wither blaze by blaze,
And down thy breast no song can fitly praise
Pale drop by drop the ooze of daylight drips?
Why vex the mind? Why ponder—‘Mine the gain
Her gold against my dross;—the sacrifice
Damns in acceptance—Heart must yield the pain
Of Heart due reverence, give the greater gift
Denial?’ To scruple so were over-nice.—
Drown me in all your hair my fingers lift!”

[III
“Heart to my heart,” she cried, “and mouth to mine]

“Heart to my heart,” she cried, “and mouth to mine!
Lie close! I feel you like the pulse of life!
Desire has pained my senses like a knife:
Lie close, that I may know my body thine!
Surely the pangs of love are all divine,
And haply tho' my ways of love be dark
Their depths may kindle with the saving spark!
At least my incense floats before the shrine!”
“Give me thy lips!” he cried—and then his mind
Suffered with truth. He said, “My soul was blind!”
“And mine,” she said, “till love disclosed the light.”
He fell beside her, “Speak!” he cried, “for me,
For me the loveless—where is hope?” And she
Soothed him as tho' a child who wept for fright.