T. R. Smith, comp. Poetica Erotica: Rare and Curious Amatory Verse. 1921–22.
Song of Psappha
By Charlotte Eaton(From Desire, 1904) I LOVE you passionately! | |
| I love you as I love the sun overhead, | |
| The earth underfoot, | |
| The flowers that spring out of the earth, | |
| The fresh breezes of the sea, | 5 |
| The morning star, gold-fluctuating Venus, | |
| Or calm white steadfast Jupiter. | |
| I love you passionately! | |
| The brawny beautiful arms made for enfolding, | |
| The eyes brown and limpid, brimming over with sweetness. | 10 |
| It is necessary to me that your heart beats, | |
| And that you inhale with conscious pleasure the soft spring air, | |
| That you love light, color, action, and are ambitious, | |
| That you love the beauty of the human face and form, | |
| And portray them both with mastery; | 15 |
| That you grasp that which is not grasped by all, | |
| And know that which is not knowable to all; | |
| That you have eyes—for a purpose, | |
| A heart—for a purpose, | |
| And an inquisitive soul—for a purpose. | 20 |