Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE PAINTED LADY, by HARRY HIBBARD KEMP


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE PAINTED LADY, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I am sick of lust,' the painted lady said
Last Line: "and I would to god that I were dead!"
Subject(s): Beauty; Lust; Paintings & Painters; Women


I AM sick of lust," the Painted Lady said,
"Of the perfumed sheets of a barren bed,
Of the passion I feign tho' I feel it not,
Of the outward bloom and the inward rot."
The Harlot laughed a hungry laugh—
"Never the joys of a mother I quaff,
For my love is a thing that is not of love,
And bitter the wine as the lees thereof.
Though the touch of my lips be heavenly sweet,
Hell's dragons coil about my feet,
And the seventy curses of hell I give,
For I've got to live, I've got to live!
I am the cowboy's passing bride,
Am mistress of him who masters the tide,
Am the dear delight of the workman's life
Whose wages can never support a wife.
I slake men's ravening desire
As I burn thro' mankind as a fire—
Yet I stand in God's eyes censure-free
For the selfsame flame consumeth me.
I am the obverse face of love
With marriage the other side thereof,
And I and the Bride together join
In the sexual mold of a single coin,
For the full-leaved bulk of the marriage-tree
Roots in the dung and mulch of me. ...
And, maidens who boast the purest white,
'Tis I who save you from Lust's despite,
'Tis I preserve you without a flaw
Till you go and lie with a man by law ...
But I'm sick of LIFE," the Painted Lady said,
"And I would to God that I were dead!"





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