Two lone glad doves are sighing on the roof,
Sending in mournful notes to the stars
A faint tremble of wailing joy; the wind
Is carolling too, - on his lute low – crying
An infinite gladness, echoing round
The walls …. Lie still, dear, and rest awhile,
Contentedly, our longing now appeased,
Till we fall, like dreaming snowflakes, far
Into the void of delightful sleep….
Like a gentle wind, I feel you breathing,
And a still joy murmuring, dovelike, through your blood
In satisfied desire….
Oh, two hot stars
Leapt up in your mad clasp and kissed
The moon, now glowing o’er the window ledge,
And blotted out my mind….And now, you warm
Still thing are beautiful as any flower,
Huddled snug to me….How sweet you are!
A satisfying relaxation sleeps
Upon your limbs, all beautifully white
As ivory, warm as its touch is cold,
Beneath me, and the fragrant roses spill
Their perfume from the jar. Your moonlight hair
Is on the pillow….Oh, move not, dearest.
Unfold not your warm limbs about me; let
Me kiss your mouth, your eyes, your forehead,
And kiss your breasts….oh, hold you ever in my arms,
And passionately love your beauty not aloof….
Dearest, you are so glad, glad as those
Two birds, aloft, still sighing on the roof.
Notes
"Beauty" was written for his then girlfriend, Dora, later to become his wife. It is a love poem which was felt to be too explicit in some of its passages. Reading it in modern times, one is struck by the emotion and the beauty of expression. In 1923, the author was expelled from the University of Sydney on a charge of "committing misconduct in writing a poem," which was printed in the June issue of "Hermes" the University magazine, under the title "Beauty
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wow
This is a beautiful poem... the imagery is fantastic and the sense I get, reading, is that it is about a very pure love: not pure as in immaculate, but pure as in natural and deep and clear.. especially the line, "you warm still thing". The image of the doves is especially touching because they go in pairs, and thus it's an appropriate analogy.
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