DANCES BY MOONLIGHT
by: Pierre Louÿs (1870-1925)
 PON the
soft grass, in the night, the young girls with hair of violets
have all danced together, one of each pair playing the part of
the lover.
-
- The virgins said: "We are not for you." And as
if they were ashamed, they hid their virginity. A satyr played
upon the flute under the trees.
-
- The others said: "We have come to seek you." They
arranged their tunics about them like the dress of men; and they
struggled in ecstasy while entwining their dancing legs.
-
- Then each one, feeling herself vanquished, took her lover
by the ears even as one takes a beaker by the two handles, and,
the head bent forward, drank a kiss.
TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH BY:
HORACE M. BROWN
|
"Dances by Moonlight"
is reprinted from Poetica Erotica. Ed. T.R. Smith. New
York: Crown Publishers, 1921. |
MORE
POEMS BY PIERRE LOUYS |
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