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• Helen knelt at Venus' shrine,
• ( O Troy Town!)
• Saying, ‘A little gift is mine,
• A little gift for a heart's desire.
• Hear me speak and make me a sign . !
• ( O Troy's down,
• Tall Troy's on fire!)

• ‘Look, I bring thee a carven cup;
• ( O Troy Town!)
• 10See it here as I hold it up,—
• Shaped it is to the heart's desire,
• Fit to fill when the gods would sup.
• ( O Troy's down,
• Tall Troy's on fire!)

• ‘It was moulded like my breast;
• ( O Troy Town!)
• He that sees it may not rest,
• Rest at all for his heart's desire.
• O give ear to my heart's behest!
• 20 ( O Troy's down,
• Tall Troy's on fire!)

• ‘See my breast, how like it is;
• ( O Troy Town!)
• See it bare for the air to kiss . !
• Is the cup to thy heart's desire?
• O for the breast, O make it his!
• ( O Troy's down,
• Tall Troy's on fire!)

• ‘Yea, for my bosom here I sue;
• 30 ( O Troy Town!)
• Thou must give it where 'tis due,
• Give it there to the heart's desire.
• Whom do I give my bosom to?
• ( O Troy's down,
• Tall Troy's on fire!)

• ‘Each twin breast is an apple sweet!
• ( O Troy Town!)
• Once an apple stirred the beat
• Of thy heart with the heart's desire:—
• 40Say, who brought it then to thy feet?
• ( O Troy's down,
• Tall Troy's on fire!)

• ‘They that claimed it then were three:
• ( O Troy Town!)
• For thy sake two hearts did he
• Make forlorn of the heart's desire.
• Do for him as he did for thee!
• ( O Troy's down,
• Tall Troy's on fire!)

• 50‘Mine are apples grown to the south,
• ( O Troy Town!)
• Grown to taste in the days of drouth,
• Taste and waste to the heart's desire:
• Mine are apples meet for his mouth!’
• ( O Troy's down,
• Tall Troy's on fire!)

• Venus looked on Helen's gift,
• ( O Troy Town!)
• Looked and smiled with subtle drift,
• 60Saw the work of her heart's desire:—
• ‘There thou kneel'st for Love to lift!’
• ( O Troy's down,
• Tall Troy's on fire!)

• Venus looked in Helen's face,
• ( O Troy Town!)
• Knew far off an hour and place,
• And fire lit from the heart's desire;
• Laughed and said, ‘Thy gift hath grace!’
• ( O Troy's down,
• 70 Tall Troy's on fire!)

• Cupid looked on Helen's breast,
• ( O Troy Town!)
• Saw the aching heart its guest heart within its nest,
• Saw the flame of the heart's desire;
• There his arrow stood confess'd .
• ( O Troy's down,
• Tall Troy's on fire!)

• Cupid took another dart,
• ( O Troy Town!)
• 80Fledged it for another heart,
• Winged the shaft with the heart's desire,
• Drew the string and said, ‘Depart!’
• ( O Troy's down,
• Tall Troy's on fire!)

• Paris turned upon his bed,
• ( O Troy Town!)
• Turned upon his bed and said,
• Dead at heart with the heart's desire,—
• O to clasp her golden head!
• 90 ( O Troy's down,
• Tall Troy's on fire!)

   

• It was Lilith the wife of Adam:
• ( Eden bower's in flower.)
• Not a drop of her blood was human,
• But she was made like a soft sweet woman.

• Lilith stood on the skirts of Eden;
• ( And O the bower and the hour!)
• She was the first that thence was driven;
• With her was hell and with Eve was heaven.

• In the ear of the Snake said Lilith:—
• 10 ( Eden bower's in flower.)
• ‘To thee I come when the rest is over;
• A snake was I when thou wast my lover.

• ‘I was the fairest snake in Eden:
• ( And O the bower and the hour!)
• By the earth's will, new form and feature
• Made me a wife for the earth's new creature.

• ‘Take me thou as I come from Adam:
• Eden bower's in flower.)
• Once again shall my love subdue thee;
• 20The past is past and I am come to thee.

• ‘O but Adam was born for thrall to Lilith!
• ( And O the bower and the hour!)
• All the threads of my hair are golden,
• And there in a net his heart was holden.

• ‘O and Lilith was born for queen of Adam!
• Eden bower's in flower.)
• All the day and the night together
• My breath could shake his soul like a feather.

• ‘What great joys had Adam and Lilith!—
• 30 ( And O the bower and the hour!)
• Sweet close rings of the serpent's twining,
• As heart in heart lay sighing and pining.

• ‘What bright babes had Lilith and Adam!—
• ( Eden bower's in flower.)
• Shapes that coiled in the woods and waters,
• Glittering sons and jewelled daughters.

• ‘O thou God, the Lord God of Eden!
• ( And O the bower and the hour!)
• Say, was this fair body for no man,
• 40That from of Adam's flesh thou mak'st him a woman?

• ‘O thou Snake, the King-snake of Eden!
• ( Eden bower's in flower.)
• God's strong will our necks are under,
• But thou and I may cleave it in sunder.

• ‘Help, sweet Snake, sweet lover of Lilith!
• ( And O the bower and the hour!)
• And let God learn how I loved and hated
• Man in the image of God created.

• ‘Help me once against Eve and Adam!
• 50 ( Eden bower's in flower.)
• Once for one hour this great Help me once for one this one endeavour,
• And then my love shall be thine for ever!

• ‘Strong is God, the fell foe of Lilith:
• ( And O the bower and the hour!)
• Nought in heaven or earth may affright him;
• But join thou with me and we will smite him.

• ‘Strong is God, the great God of Eden:
• Eden bower's in flower.)
• Over all he made he hath power;
• 60But lend me thou thy shape for an hour!

• ‘Lend thy shape for the love of Lilith!
• ( And O the bower and the hour!)
• Look, my mouth and my cheek are ruddy,
• And thou art cold, and fire is my body.

• ‘Lend thy shape for the hate of Adam!
• ( Eden bower's in flower.)
• That he may wail my joy that forsook him,
• And curse the day when the bride-sleep took him.

• ‘Lend thy shape for the shame of Eden!
• 70 ( And O the bower and the hour!)
• Is not the foe-God weak as the foeman
• When love grows hate in the heart of a woman?

• ‘Would'st thou know the heart's hope of Lilith?
• ( Eden bower's in flower.)
• Come then close till thy heart doth glisten
  Added TextBring thy gemmed head close till it glisten
• Along my breast, and lip me and listen.

• ‘Am I sweet, O sweet Snake of Eden?
• And O the bower and the hour!)
• Then ope thine ear to my warm mouth's cooing
• 80And learn what deed remains for our doing.

• ‘Thou didst hear when God said to Adam:—
• ( Eden bower's in flower.)
• “Of all this wealth I have made thee warden;
• Thou'rt free to eat of the trees of the garden:

• ‘“Only of one tree eat not in Eden;
• ( And O the bower and the hour!)
• All save one I give to thy freewill,—
• The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.”

• ‘O my love, come nearer to Lilith!
• 90 ( Eden bower's in flower.)
• In thy sweet folds b wind me and bend me,
• And let me feel the shape thou shalt lend me!

• ‘In thy shape I'il go back to Eden;
• ( And O the bower and the hour!)
• In these coils that Tree will I grapple,
• And stretch this crowned head forth by the apple.

• ‘Lo, Eve bends to the breath of Lilith!
• ( Eden bower's in flower.)
• O how then shall my heart desire
• 100All her blood as food to its fire!

• ‘Lo, Eve bends to the words of Lilith!—
• ( And O the bower and the hour!)
• “Nay, this tree's fruit,—why should ye hate it,
• Or Death be born the day that ye ate it?

• ‘“Nay, but on that great day in Eden,
• ( Eden bower's in flower.)
• By the help that in this wise Tree is,
• God knows well ye shall be as He is.”

• ‘Then Eve shall eat and give unto Adam;
• 110 ( And O the bower and the hour!)
• And then they both shall know they are naked,
• And their hearts ache as my heart hath achèd.

• ‘ Then they shall Aye, let them hide in the trees of Eden,
• ( Eden bower's in flower.)
• As in the cool of the day in the garden
• God shall walk without pity or pardon.

• ‘ Hear thou, Eve, Hear, thou Eve, the man's heart in Adam!
• ( And O the bower and the hour!)
• Of his brave words hark to the bravest:—
• 120“This the woman gave that thou gavest.”

• ‘Hear Eve speak, yea, list to her, Lilith!
• ( Eden bower's in flower.)
• Let thine heart hear Feast thine heart with words that shall sate it:—
• “This the serpent gave and I at it.”

• ‘O proud Eve, cling close to thine Adam,
• ( And O the bower and the hour!)
• Driven forth as the beasts of his naming
• By the sword that for ever is flaming.

• ‘Know, thy path is known unto Lilith!
• 130 ( Eden bower's in flower.)
• While the blithe birds sang at thy wedding,
• There her tears grew thorns for thy treading.

• ‘O my love, O thou Love-snake of Eden!
• ( And O the bower and the hour!)
• O to-day and the day to come after!
• Loose me, love,—give breath to my laughter!

• ‘O bright Snake, the Death-worm of Adam!
• ( Eden bower's in flower.)
• Wreathe thy neck with my hair's bright tether,
• 140And wear my gold and thy gold together!

• ‘On that day on the skirts of Eden,
• ( And O the bower and the hour!)
• In thy shape shall I glide back to thee,
• And in my shape for an instant view thee.

• ‘But when thou'rt thou and Lilith is Lilith,
• ( Eden bower's in flower.)
• In what bliss past hearing or seeing
• Shall each one drink of the other's being.

• ‘With cries of “Eve!” and “Eden!” and “Adam!”
• 150 ( And O the bower and the hour!)
• How shall we mingle our love's caresses,
• I in thy folds, and thou in my tresses ? !

• ‘With those names, ye echoes of Eden,
• ( Eden bower's in flower.)
• Fire shall cry from my heart that burneth,—
• “Dust he is and to dust returneth!”

• ‘Yet to-day, thou master of Lilith,—
• ( And O the bower and the hour!)
• Wrap me round in the coils I'll borrow
• 160And let me tell thee of sweet to-morrow.

• ‘In the planted garden eastward in Eden,
• ( Eden bower's in flower.)
• Where the river goes forth to water the garden,
• The springs shall dry and the soil shall harden.

• ‘Yea, where the bride-sleep fell upon Adam,
• ( And O the bower and the hour!)
• None shall hear when the storm-wind whistles
• Through roses choked among thorns and thistles.

• ‘Yea, beside the east-gate of Eden,
• 170 ( Eden bower's in flower.)
• Where God joined them and none might sever,
• The sword turns this way and that for ever.

• ‘What of Adam cast out of Eden?
• ( And O the bower and the hour!)
• Lo! with care like a shadow shaken,
• He tills the hard earth whence he was taken.

• ‘What of Eve too, cast out of Eden?
• ( Eden bower's in flower.)
• Nay, but she, the bride of God's giving,
• 180Must yet be mother of all men living.

• ‘Lo, God's grace, by the grace of Lilith!
• ( And O the bower and the hour!)
• To Eve's womb, from our sweet to-morrow,
• God shall greatly multiply sorrow.

• ‘Fold me fast, O God-snake of Eden!
• ( Eden bower's in flower.)
• What more prize than love to impel thee?
• Grip and lip my limbs as I tell thee!

• ‘Lo! two babes for Eve and for Adam!
• 190 ( And O the bower and the hour!)
• Lo! sweet Snake, the travail and treasure,—
• Two men-children born for their pleasure!

• ‘The first is Cain and the second Abel:
• ( Eden bower's in flower.)
• The soul of one shall be made thy brother,
• And thy tongue shall lap the blood of the other.’
• ( And O the bower and the hour!)