Gargoyles

VII. O piteous lot of humankind Whose history repeats itself! Dinner is cleared by gnome and elf; I pay the bill, take Baal’s receipt, And stroll off smoking. Soon I meet The fairest foulest whore that burns. High feeding pays: desire returns. She willing (for a copper rin)? For any ecstasy of sin Gaily embraces me. A room Starts up in the half-light, half-gloom, Perfectly purposed for debauch. In mirrors shines a wicked nautch, And on the floor Hawaian belles Rave in a hula-hula?—Hell’s! Fragonard, Rops, had lined the walls With wild indecent bacchanals, And bawdy photographs attest The Devil’s taste to be the best. 1 Japanese coin worth a small portion of a penny. 2 The indecent dance of the South Seas. 105