Her Majesty
MISTRESS RHIANNON
These were the signs God set on me;
A barren beauty subtle and sleek,
Curled carven hair, and cheeks worn wan
With fierce false lips of many a man,
Large temples where the blood ran weak,
A mouth athirst and amorous
And hungering as the grave's mouth does
That, being an-hungered, cannot speak.
Masque of Queen Bersabe,
Algernon Charles Swinburne
Give blood to Mistress Rhiannon
here!...