JULIA'S CLOTHES

by: Richard Le Gallienne (1866-1947)

H, when at night my lady sweet

Loosens the honeyed linen from her thigh,

Girdle and smock and all the warm things lie

Fall'n in a snowdrift round her feet;

Or like the foam that kissed the toes

Of Venus, nailed with pearl,

When from the sea she rose,

The wondrous golden girl.

Then, bending low, I take the sweet cloud up,

Stained through with sweets from arm and breast and thigh,

And, like a greedy gloating butterfly,

Upon the hoarded fragrance sup and sup.

Yea, as I feast upon my lady's clothes,

I dream I am a bee, and they a rose.

• Richard Le Gallienne: Bibliography - A bibliography of the works of Richard Gallienne; includes a brief list of critical resources.
• Purchase books by Richard Le Gallienne