The Poetry and Criticism of Mr. Swinburne

Francis William Lauderdale Adams (1862–1893)

'He shut his two keen eyën fastAnd suddenly woxe big and brastE're one should tell to nine.'

'I am the Queen of Lesbians,My love, that had no part in man's,Was sweeter than all shape of sweet.'

'Alas, but surely where the hills grow deep,Or where the wild ways of the sea are steep,Or in strange places somewhere there is death,And on death's face the scattered hair of sleep.'

'Nous reconnaissons, courbés vers la terre,Que c'est la splendeur de ta face austèreQui dore la nuit de nos longs malheurs;Que la vie ailée aux mille couleurs,Dont tu n'es que l'âme,Refait par tes mains les prés et les fleurs.La rose et la femme.'