 | Gilded AdorationFriday, December 8th, 2017 |
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Silvered and Bronzed
Gabriele D’Annunzi
Silvered
When, half upraised, her belly to the sand,
Naked she welcomes the slow-conquering tide,
Then, in the full moon’s radiance, she appears
Like some great silver statue lying there.
A Callipygian Venus, lewdly posed –
Into the rounded surface of her sides
Two hollows sculpted, and her powerful spine
Furrowing deeply as she arches back.
The rising tide steals up and moistens her.
She starts and shudders at its icy touch,
Her loins a-tremble in their ecstasy.
The billows dash against her face, but still
She holds her chosen posture fearlessly
Till, at its height, the tide submerges her.
Bronzed
After her bath, all dripping wet, and swathed
In her dark hair, her body shivering,
She prints in the dry surface of the sand
The splendid contours of her flawless limbs.
Sometimes she graps her bosom’s living fruits
Causing their sturdy points to burgeon forth;
Sometimes she rolls about, and the coarse sand
Marks her smooth skin with curious designs.
Then, patterned thus, she offers up her all
To the moon’s kiss, on seaweed-couch outspread,
Remaining motionless with skyward breast.
And the distance on the background dark,
She looks like a great brazen statue, part –
Corroded by the sea’s acidity.
