Oscar Wilde

Charmides and Other Poems Oscar Wilde

Book Excerpte tossed the clustering hair, And from his limbs he throw the cloak away; For whom would not such love make desperate?And nigher came, and touched her throat, and with hands violateUndid the cuirass, and the crocus gown, And bared the breasts of polished ivory, Till from the waist the peplos falling downLeft visible the secret mysteryWhich to no lover will Athena show, The grand cool flanks, the crescent thighs, the bossy hills of snow. Those who have never known a lover's sinLet them not read my ditty, it will beTo their dull ears so musicless and thinThat they will have no joy of it, but yeTo whose wan cheeks now creeps the lingering smile, Ye who have learned who Eros is, - O listen yet awhile. A little space he let his greedy eyesRest on the burnished image, till mere sightHalf swooned for surfeit of such luxuries, And then his lips in hungering delightFed on her lips, and round the towered neckHe flu