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| SUAVE body of the Queen, she gave me you, | |
| Misting in still, warm rains of tenderness— | |
| But kept herself, and we are each betrayed. | |
| You are her mistress, and she makes of me | |
| Another mistress! Playthings are we both, | 5 |
| When we thought she meant us for full sovereignty; | |
| It was not regal, and her throne is stained. | |
| She bade you seek me, and your singing feet | |
| Ran quickly, surely; you held out your hands. | |
| You had no fear because you felt my heart | 10 |
| Leap as you laid your white breast under it. | |
| We had no prides to conquer as we kissed, | |
| For we knew kinship in our overthrow. | |
| Yet now she stands apart and questions us. | |
| How can she question—leave me out of it— | 15 |
| But you, her body, her sweet source of joy,— | |
| How can she then divide herself from you, | |
| And calmly reckon what the gain may be? | |
| The hour will come when she will tire of us, | |
| And all your softness will be broken up, | 20 |
| Your rioting lips chilled with an ashen wind. | |
| There is a hint of vileness in the air, | |
| And on the strings a dance of ironies, | |
| With love’s scarecrow jigging wearily… | |
| Still I have you—so I am not afraid! | 25 |
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