A Variation

I am tired of this! Nothing else but loving! Nothing else but kiss and kiss, Coo, and turtle-doving! Can't you change the order some? Hate me just a little--come! Lay aside your 'dears,' 'Darlings,' 'kings,' and 'princes!'-- Call me knave, and dry your tears-- Nothing in me winces,-- Call me something low and base-- Something that will suit the case! Wish I had your eyes And their drooping lashes! I would dry their teary lies Up with lightning-flashes-- Make your sobbing lips unsheathe All the glitter of your teeth! Can't you lift one word-- With some pang of laughter-- Louder than the drowsy bird Crooning 'neath the rafter? Just one bitter word, to shriek Madly at me as I speak! How I hate the fair Beauty of your forehead! How I hate your fragrant hair! How I hate the torrid Touches of your splendid lips, And the kiss that drips and drips! Ah, you pale at last! And your face is lifted Like a white sail to the blast, And your hands are shifted Into fists: and, towering thus, You are simply glorious! Now before me looms Something more than human; Something more than beauty blooms In the wrath of Woman-- Something to bow down before Reverently and adore.