(_Le Chat_)
Most lovely, lie along my heart,
Within your paw your talons fold,
Let me find secrets in your eyes--
Your eyes of agate rimmed with gold!
For when my languid fingers move
Along your rippling back, and all
My senses tingle with delight
In softness so electrical,
My wife's face flashes in my mind;
Your cold, mysterious glances bring,
Sweet beast, strange memories of hers
That cut and flagellate and sting!
From head to foot a subtle air
Surrounds her body's dusky bloom,
And there attends her everywhere
A faint and dangerous perfume.