32 
THE CANNIBALS 
 
 
I might behold thine eyes as red as fire 
A tigress maddened with supreme desire ; 
White arms that clasp me ; fervent breast that glides 
An eager snake, about my breast and sides ; 
Teeth keen to bite, red tongue that never tires, 
And lips ensaguine with unfed desires, 
A very beast of prey ; hot hands caress, 
And violent breath that surfeits not excess. 
But raise no head !  I know thee, breast and thigh, 
Lips, hair, and eyes, and mouth :  I will not die 
But thou come with me o’er the gate of death. 
So, bloody and body furious with breath 
That pants through foaming kisses, let us stay 
Gripped hard together to kiss life away, 
Mouths drowned in murder, never satiate, 
Kissing away the hard decrees of Fate, 
Kissing insatiable in mad desire, 
Kisses whose agony may never tire, 
Kissing the gates of hell, the sword of God, 
Each unto each a serpent or a rod, 
A well of wine and fire, each unto each, 
Whose lips are fain convulsively to reach 
A higher heaven, a deeper hell.  Ah ! day 
So soon to dawn, delight to snatch away ! 
Damned day, whose sunlight finds us as with wine 
Drunken, with lust made manifest divine 
Devils of darkness, servants unto hell— 
Yea, king and queen of Sheol, terrible 
Above all fiends and furies, hating more 
The high Jehovah, loving Baal Peor,