SEDUCTION
by: Harold Greenthal
- HE Lily
swayed coquettishly,
- And the Rose,
- Whom the murky night had left
- Drunk with dew,
- Was fired with desire,
- And the passion burned his cheeks.
-
- He bent lover-like
- Over the virgin Lily,
- And his green arms,
- Quivering amorously in the breeze,
- Slipped 'round her dainty waist,
- And her lithe body shook with emotion.
- She raised her drooping head,
- And held her fresh young lips to his!
-
- The lustful Rose
- Now strained her close,
- And the virgin Lily struggled
- As though she were being violated,
- Yet, yielding graciously the next instant,
- Swung wantonly against her lover!...
-
- Suddenly they quiet grew,
- And slowly disentangled
- Leaf from leaf,
- And drew apart,
- The Violets, quidnuncs every one,
- Had looked on all the while
- And passed the scandal to the Larks;
- Narcissus, becoming inflamed,
- Embraced himself
- With quite unnatural ardor.
- But the ravished Lily
- Hung her head in shame
- And tried to hide
- The tiny bits of gold
- That lay sprinkled
- Here and there
- Along her happy petals.
"Seduction" is reprinted
from Poetica Erotica. Ed. T.R. Smith. New York: Crown
Publishers, 1921. |
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POEMS BY HAROLD GREENTHAL |
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