O HYMEN! O HYMENEE!

O HYMEN! O hymenee! why do you tantalize me thus?
O why sting me for a swift moment only?
Why can you not continue? O why do you now cease?
Is it because if you continued beyond the swift moment you
     would soon certainly kill me?

1860 1867

I AM HE THAT ACHES WITH LOVE

I AM he that aches with amorous love;
Does the earth gravitate? does not all matter, aching, attract
     all matter?
So the body of me to all I meet or know.

1860 1867

NATIVE MOMENTS

NATIVE moments — when you come upon me — ah you are
     here now,
Give me now libidinous joys only,
Give me the drench of my passions, give me life coarse and
     rank,
To-day I go consort with Nature's darlings, to-night too,
I am for those who believe in loose delights, I share the
     midnight orgies of young men,
I dance with the dancers and drink with the drinkers,
The echoes ring with out indecent calls, I pick out some low
     person for my dearest friend,
He shall be lawless, rude, illiterate, he shall be one
     condemned by others for deeds done,
I will play a part no longer, why should I exile myself from
     my companions?
O you shunn'd persons, I at least do not shun you,
I come forthwith in your midst, I will be your poet,
I will be more to you than to any of the rest.

1860 1881

ONCE I PASS'D THROUGH A POPULOUS CITY

ONCE I pass'd through a populous city imprinting my brain
     for future use with its shows, architecture, customs, traditions,
Yet now of all that city I remember only a woman I casually
     met there who detain'd me for love of me,
Day by day and night by night we were together — all else has
     long been forgotten by me,
I remember I say only that woman who passionately clung to me,
Again we wander, we love, we separate again,
Again she holds me by the hand, I must not go,
I see her close beside me with silent lips sad and tremulous.

1860 1867

I HEARD YOU SOLEMN-SWEET PIPES OF THE ORGAN

I HEARD you solemn-sweet pipes of the organ as last Sunday
     morn I pass'd the church,
Winds of autumn, as I walk'd the woods at dusk I heard your
     long-stretch'd sighs up above so mournful,
I heard the perfect Italian tenor singing at the opera, I heard
     the soprano in the midst of the quartet singing;
Heart of my love! you too I heard murmuring low through
     one of the wrists around my head,
Heard the pulse of you when all was still ringing little bells
     last night under my ear.

1861 1867

FACING WEST FROM CALIFORNIA'S SHORES

FACING west from California's shores,
Inquiring, tireless, seeking what is yet unfound,
I, a child, very old, over waves, towards the house of
     maternity, the land of migrations, look afar,
Look off the shores of my Western sea, the circle almost
     circled;
For starting westward from Hindustan, from the vales of
     Kashmere,

From Asia, from the north, from the God, the sage, and the
     hero,
From the south, from the flowery peninsulas and the spice
     islands,
Long having wander'd since, round the earth having wander'd,
Now I face home again, very pleas'd and joyous,
(But where is what I started for so long ago?
And why is it yet unfound?)

1860 1867

AS ADAM EARLY IN THE MORNING

As Adam early in the morning,
Walking forth from the bower refresh'd with sleep,
Behold me where I pass, hear my voice, approach,
Touch me, touch the palm of your hand to my body as I pass,
Be not afraid of my body.

1860 1867