| Purification... Robert Graves... |
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'He numbed my heart, he stole away my truth, He laid his hands on my body. Never had I known ecstacy like that: I could have flown with him to the world's end And thought of you no more.' |
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'Wake dearest love, here in my own warm arms, That was a nightmare only, You kept the wall-side, leaving me the outer, No demon slid between us to molest you. This is a narrow bed.' |
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I would have brought her breakfast on a tray But she seemed haunted still By terror that in nine short months, maybe, A demon's litter, twitching scaly tails Would have from either breast. And still she shuddered inconsolably All day; out true love-magic Dwindled and failed- 'He swore to take me The round of Paris, on his midnight tours, Fiddling for me to dance.' |
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Thus to have murdered love even in a dream Called for purification; And (as the Great Queen yearly did at Paphos) Down to the sea she trod and in salt water Renewed virginity. |
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