Little Poems in Prose

me;—the Water, the Clouds, Silence, Night; the vast green Sea, the shapeless water that hath many shapes; the place where thou art not, the lover that thou knowest not, mon- strous flowers and delirious perfumes, cats that swoon at music and groan as women do with harsh, soft voice. “And thou shalt be loved of my lovers, courted by my courtiers. Thou shalt be the queen of those men whose eyes are green and whose throats I have clutched in my nocturnal caresses: of those who love the sea, the vast, tumultuous sea, the shapeless water that hath many shapes, the place where they are not, the women whom they know not; the sinister flowers that resemble the thuribles of an un- known religion; the perfumes that trouble the will, and the savage and voluptuous beasts that are the symbols of their madness. And it is for that, spoilt child accursèd and belovèd, that I am crouched this moment at thy feet, seeking in all thy being the reflection of that fearful Divinity, that god-mother pro- phetic, that poisonous nurse of all the mad- men-of-the-moon.