White Stains

TO MY FIRST-BORN 95 TO MY FIRST-BORN At last a father ! In Mathilde’s womb The poison quickens, and the tare-seeds shoot ; On my old upas-tree a bastard fruit Is grafted. One more generation’s doom Fixes its fangs. Crime’s flame, disease’s gloom, Are thy birth-dower. Another prostitute Predestined, born man, damned to grow a brute ! Another travels tainted to the tomb ! My sin, my madness, in thy blood are set, A vile imperishable coronet, To hound thee into hell ! God spits at thee The curse thy parents earned. Revenge be thine ! Kiss Lust, kill Truth, and worship at Sin’s shrine. And foul His face with dung—thy infamy !