Alice: An Adultery

THE TWENTY-FIRST DAY “ Mal. Dispute it like a man. Macd. I shall do so. But I must also feel it as a man.” Macbeth. I had a fearful dream (on going away) Of scorpion women curled in my caress, And twenty days they closed on my distress Not giving me relief, but gold and gray, Cold and intense ; the one-and-twentieth day They drew my life out, one exceeding stress, Volcanic anguish !—Here’s the strange excess : I called, ere waking, on the name Eheieh ! Solve me the riddle of the dream who can ! That night I sought a new toy for a lure, And she would not : but knew how hard to endure Is love like ours, the love of purity. So she : “ Dispute it like a man ! ” and I : “ But I must also feel it as a man ! ” Note. Eheieh is the Hebrew for “ I am that I am.” Its numerical value is 21. I was not aware at the time that this was the 21st day. 56