You beauty, O you beauty
you glistening garmentless beauty!
great lady, great glorious
lady
greatest of
ladies
crownless and
jewelless and garmentless
because naked you are more wonderful than
anything we can stroke.
Be good to me, lady, great lady of the
nearest
heavenly
mansion, and last!
Now I am at your gate, you beauty, you lady of all
nakedness!
Now I
must enter your mansion, and beg your gift
Moon, O Moon, great lady of the
heavenly few.
Far and forgotten is the Villa of Venus the
glowing
and behind
me now in the gulfs of space lies the golden house
of the sun,
and six have given me gifts,
and kissed me god-speed
kisses of four great lords, beautiful, as they
held me to their
bosom in farewell,
and kiss of the far-off lingering lady who looks over the
distant
fence of the
twilight,
and one
warm kind kiss of the lion with golden paws.
Now, lady of the Moon, now open
the gate of your silvery house
and let me come past the silver bells of your
flowers and the cockle-shells
into your house, garmentless lady of the last
great gift:
who will
give me back my lost limbs
and my lost white fearless breast
and set me again on
moon-remembering feet
a healed, whole man, O
Moon!
Lady, lady of the last house down the long, long street
of the stars
be good
to me now, as I beg you, as you’ve always been good
to men
who begged of you and gave you
homage
and watched
for your glistening feet down the garden path!