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W
hen through the purple
corridors the screaming scarlet ibis flew
I
n terror, and a horrid
dew dripped from the moaning mandragores ,
A
nd the great torpid
crocodile within the tank shed slimy tears ,
A
nd tare the jewels from
his ears and staggered back into the nile ,
A
nd the priests cursed you
with shrill psalms as in your claws you seized their snake
A
nd crept away with it to
slake your passion by the shuddering palms
the sphinx
W
ho were your lovers ? who
were they who wrestled for you in the dust !
W
hich was the vessel of
your lust ? What leman had you, every day ?
D
id giant lizards come and
crouch before you on the reedy banks ?
D
id gryphons with great
metal flanks leap on you in your trampled couch ?
D
id monstrous hippopotami
come sidling toward you in the mist ?
D
id gilt-scaled dragons
writhe and twist with passion as you passed them by ?
A
nd from the brick-built
lycian tomb what horrible chimaera came
W
ith fearful heads and
fearful flame to breed new wonders from your womb ?
O
r had you shameful secret
quests and did you harry to your home
S
ome nereid coiled in
amber foam with curious rock crystal breasts ?
O
r did you treading
through the froth call to the brown sidonian
F
or tidings of leviathan,
leviathan or behemoth ?
O
r did you when the sun
was set climb up the cactus-covered slope
T
o meet your swarthy
ethiop whose body was of polished jet ?
the sphinx
O
r did you while the
earthen skiffs dropped down thegrey nilotic flats
A
t
twilight and theflickering bats flew round the
temple’s triple glyphs
S
teal to the border of the
bar and swim across thesilent lake
A
nd slink
into the vaultand make the pyramid your
lùpanar
T
ill from each black
sarcophagus rose up the painted swathèd dead ?
O
r did you lure unto your
bed the ivory-hornedtragelaphos ?
O
r did you love the god of
flies who plagued thehebrews and was splashed
W
ith wine unto the waist ?
or pasht, who had greenberyls for her eyes ?
O
r that young god, the
tyrian, who was more amorousthan the dove
O
f
ashtaroth ? or did youlove the god of the
assyrian
W
hose wings, like strange
transparent talc, rose highabove his hawk-faced head ,
P
ainted with silver and
with red and ribbed with rodsof oreichalch ?
O
r did huge apis from his
car leap down and lay beforeyour feet
B
ig
blossoms of the honey-sweet and honey-coloured
nenuphar ?
H
ow subtle-secret is your
smile ! did you love nonethen? nay, i know
G
reat ammon was your
bedfellow ! he lay with you besidethe nile !
T
he river-horses in the
slime trumpeted when they sawhim come
O
dorous with
syriangalbanum and smeared with spikenard
and with thyme .
H
e came along the river-
bank like some tall galleyargent-sailed ,
H
e
strode across thewaters, mailed in beauty, and the
waters sank .
H
e strode across the
desert sand: he reached thevalley where you lay :
H
e waited till the dawn of
day : then touched yourblack breasts with his hand .
Y
ou kissed his mouth with
mouths of flame : you madethe horned god your own :
Y
ou stood behind him on
his throne : you called him byhis secret name .
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