Webster was much possessed by death And saw the skull beneath the skin; And breastless creatures under ground Leaned backward with a lipless grin. Daffodil bulbs instead of balls Stared from the sockets of the eyes! He knew that thought clings round dead limbs Tightening its lusts and luxuries. Donne, I suppose, was such another Who found no substitute for sense, To seize and clutch and penetrate; Expert beyond experience, He knew the anguish of the marrow The ague of the skeleton; No contact possible to flesh Allayed the fever of the bone. * * * * * Grishkin is nice: her Russian eye Is underlined for emphasis; Uncorseted, her friendly lust Gives promise of pneumatic bliss. The couched Brazilian jaguar Compels the scampering marmoset With subtle effluence of cat; Grishkin has a maisonette; The sleek Brazilian jaguar Does not in its arboreal gloom Distil so rank a feline smell As Grishkin in a drawing-room. And even the Abstract Entities Circumambulate her charm; But our lot crawls between dry ribs To keep our metaphysics warm. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HIRAM POWERS' GREEK SLAVE by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING A PAINTED FAN by LOUISE CHANDLER MOULTON BALLADE OF SCHOPENHAUER'S PHILOSOPHY by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS BATUSCHKA by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH ON EDWARD WEBBE, ENGLISH GUNNER by WILLIAM ROSE BENET SPHINX-MONEY by MATHILDE BLIND LOVE'S WAYFARING by WILLIAM STANLEY BRAITHWAITE |