| T. R. Smith, comp. Poetica Erotica: Rare and Curious Amatory Verse. 1921–22. | | | | The Housemaid | | By Richard Le Gallienne (1866–1947) |
| | | POOR pulses ready still to beat | |
| At any sound of Love’s light feet, | |
| Poor hungry heart too young to learn | |
| Youth is no more, poor eyes that burn | |
| Still on the women in the street. | 5 |
| |
| O print-clad damsel, fresh and fair, | |
| Bending above the threshold there | |
| On supple knees and swaying line, | |
| And honeyed curve—dear maid, be mine. | |
| For O, I know about thy neck | 10 |
| Hide silver globes without a fleck, | |
| About thy soft and odorous waist | |
| I know what other joys are placed, | |
| And those strong limbs that make a lap | |
| As soft as down,—ah blessed hap | 15 |
| To lie therein; these round arms bare, | |
| How strongly would you draw me there. | |
| |
| O how you make my blood a song, | |
| And how this foolish heart will long, | |
| And even brain will have its dream— | 20 |
| Ah there, far up the street a gleam | |
| Turns like a wing, it is her hand, | |
| She kisses it—we understand. | | | | |
|
|
