There is a hunger in their small white limbs,
It is the beauty of the world they seek;
They shall have children gazing on great stars
That melt within their bodies. They shall speak
Of rivers, woods and oceans of the world
Babbling soft words of love on that man's lips
Who from their nakedness all safety strips.

Naked, defenceless in a wild ravening world,
Clamouring to rape their beauty ere they die,
They clasp frail hands, fashioned so delicately
That men go mad to see bared beauty lie
On the dark cloths of earth like trees and streams
That are a dark, bright budding ecstasy,
Souls in the calm deep air upleaping free.

And I have fled from them by night and day,
From dark trees bending high against the Moon,
From streams that shone like spirits seeking flesh
To clothe their bright desires. At summer's noon
Bewitched by spirit-babblings I have stolen
To watch one leap among the ferns and grass
A naked soul, shining and clear as glass.

And these white nymphs of human progeny
Ache for the darkness soft against their flesh;
Their pale limbs in their secret chambers gleam
And make with stars and streams a glimmering mesh
Of bright enchantment. Slowly sinks the world
Beneath the spell of beauty naked lies
Earth's tortured spirit spread against the skies.

All grief and joy and fear of bright-edged swords
And fountains of red blood among quiet stars
Leap in their flesh, as in snow countries fires
Glimmer among pale hills; the trees' dark bars
Stark black with death fret the ethereal flame
Dug from the bowels of earth. The dusty lanes
Ache for the kiss of gentle-greeting rains.

Soft as rain falling should their lovers come
And touch their hands and gaze into their eyes
That will not see the Moon stand round and still,
Nor the white Owl motionless as it flies;
For this is love, a hollow shining dream
Of crystal trees, and faces cold and small
That do not sigh, or kiss, or speak at all.