Songs of Bilitis - Benjamin Adamah

REGRETS
At first I did not answer, shame sat upon my cheeks and the throbbing of my
heart hurt my breasts.
Then I struggled, I said "No! no!". I turned my head, and the kiss did not meet my
lips, nor did desire spread my close-locked knees.
He asked my pardon, kissed my hair, I felt his hot breath on me, and he left. . .
Now I am alone.
I see the empty place, the lonely wood, the trampled earth. And I gnaw my fists
till they bleed, and I stifle my sobs in the grass.
INTERRUPTED SLEEP
I fell asleep alone like a partridge in the heath. . . . The light breeze, the noise of
the water and the softness of the night had held me there.
I had fallen asleep, imprudently, and I awoke with a scream, and I struggled and
I wept; but it was too late already. What service are a child's hands?
He would not leave me. Nay, he clasped me more fondly in his arms, pressed me
against him and I saw no more, nor earth nor trees but only the glowing fire in
his eyes.
To you, victorious Kypris, I consecrate these offerings, still moist with dew,
vestiges of the anguish of a maid, witnesses of my slumber and my struggle.
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