At Baia (by H.D.)
H.D. in the 1910s
At Baia
by Hilda Doolittle
[from Hymen (Henry Holt and Company, 1921)]
I should have thought
in a dream you would have brought
some lovely, perilous thing,
orchids piled in a great sheath,
as who would say (in a dream)
I send you this,
who left the blue veins
of your throat unkissed.
Why was it that your hands
(that never took mine)
your hands that I could see
drift over the orchid heads
so carefully,
your hands, so fragile, sure to lift
so gently, the fragile flower stuff–
ah, ah, how was it
You never sent (in a dream)
the very form, the very scent,
not heavy, not sensuous,
but perilous–perilous–
of orchids, piled in a great sheath,
and folded underneath on a bright scroll
some word:
Flower sent to flower;
for white hands, the lesser white,
less lovely of flower leaf,
or
Lover to lover, no kiss,
no touch, but forever and ever this.
To read other H.D. works in the Crisis Chronicles Online Library, click here.
We also recommend these volumes from Amazon:
Posted by Jesus Crisis at 1/8/2010 9:46 AM 
Categories: 1900s, Writing, Doolittle (Hilda), American
Tags: American Literature Hilda Doolittle 1921 Hymen H.D. Imagist American Poetry Imagiste
Categories: 1900s, Writing, Doolittle (Hilda), American
Tags: American Literature Hilda Doolittle 1921 Hymen H.D. Imagist American Poetry Imagiste
Comments