| T. R. Smith, comp. Poetica Erotica: Rare and Curious Amatory Verse. 1921–22. | | | | Idealism | | By Arthur Symons (1865–1945) |
| | (From London Nights, 1895)
I KNOW the woman has no soul, I know | |
| The woman has no possibilities | |
| Of soul or mind or heart, but merely is | |
| The masterpiece of flesh: well, be it so. | |
| It is her flesh that I adore; I go | 5 |
| Thirsting afresh to drain her empty kiss. | |
| I know she cannot love; it is not this | |
| My vanquished heart implores in overthrow. | |
| Tyrannously I crave, I crave alone, | |
| Her perfect body, Earth’s most eloquent | 10 |
| Music, divinest human harmony; | |
| Her body now a silent instrument, | |
| That ’neath my touch shall wake and make for me | |
| The strains I have but dreamed of, never known. | | | | |
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