Classic Poem

1.

Lo! this fair and noble form
Of colossal womanhood
Yields with rapture to my mood:
Yields her unresisting, warm.

Had I given passion reins —
Sought by force to win and keep —
I had rued, and rued it deep!
She had thrashed me for my pains.

Throat, neck, bosom! Fairer even,
(Could I see so high) the face!
Ere I trust to her embrace,
I'll commend my soul to heaven.

2.

'Twas by the Bay of Biscay
That first she drew her breath;
Already, in the cradle,
She crushed two cats to death.

She crossed the Pyrenees then,
In barefoot loveliness;
At Perpignan they showed her —
A youthful giantess.

The Faubourg Saint-Denis, now,
With her style and state resounds;
She costs the little Sir William
A cool ten thousand pounds.

3.

Dearly loved and noble Doña,
When I gaze upon your grace,
I remember old Bologna,
And the ancient market-place.

'Neath the Fountain of the Giant
Once again I seem to stand —
'Neath the Neptune, moulded pliant
To Giovanni's master-hand.