T. R. Smith, comp. Poetica Erotica: Rare and Curious Amatory Verse. 1921–22.
Farewell
By Joseph Kling(To D——.) (From A Pagan Anthology, 1918) |
I HAVE placed you | |
In the hollow of my hand | |
Little toy-woman, | |
And I gaze at you disdainfully | |
Or throw you lightly aside … | 5 |
Or half-shut my eyes, | |
And poetize dreamily | |
About your dainty beauty … | |
Or put my mouth | |
Close to yours | 10 |
So that I see only | |
The rose-red of your cheek | |
And feel the soft warmth | |
Of your lips … | |
Or whisper half-audibly | 15 |
Of the passion that makes | |
My blood a tide of fire … | |
But after all, | |
You are in the hollow of my hand,— | |
I the master, | 20 |
And you the marionette … * * * | |
My soul craves | |
A nobler happiness | |
Than passionate kisses | |
And the feel of soft flesh | 25 |
In my fingers … * * * | |
Love is a lie … | |
Any man-animal | |
Whose lips | |
Are at your throat, | 30 |
Whose hands are eager | |
For your breasts | |
Will drivel with lying tongue | |
About endless love … * * * | |
Aristocrats or gum-chewers, | 35 |
They purr, and smirk, and sing-song questioningly, | |
Gaze at each other obliquely, | |
Body to body pressed … * * * | |
It is best to live alone, | |
Breathe alone, | 40 |
Dream alone, | |
Alone with one’s sacred self, | |
One’s reveries, | |
And memories, | |
And heavenly fantasies … | 45 |
Here I sit and think: | |
The world of women | |
Will fret me no more; | |
And an hour from now, | |
Or to-morrow, it may be, | 50 |
I will be talking to another | |
Pretty one | |
And every nerve in my body | |
Will exult as though | |
Inebriate with wine … | 55 |
Morbleu! What is this | |
Insanity of man’s flesh! | |