Little Poems in Prose

EPILOGUE MINE heart at ease, I climbed the promon- tory Whence one may contemplate the town outspread— Hospital, brothel, jail, hell, purgatory, Where each thing monstrous rears its pros- pered head! Well know’st thou Satan (ease this woe of mine!) I went not thither useless tears to shed, But an old lecher with’s old concubine, To madden sense on the enormous bitch Whose hellish charm pours youth for me like wine Whether thou sleep in morning’s sheets (dear witch!) Heavy, obscure, and chill; or preen thee, vain, In evening’s veils, with gold embroidery rich.