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EGYPTIAN COURTESANS<br />
I went with Plango to the Egyptian courtesans, far above the old city. They have<br />
amphoras <strong>of</strong> earth and copper salvers, and yellow mats on which they may squat<br />
without an effort.<br />
Their rooms are silent, without angles or corners, so greatly have successive coats<br />
<strong>of</strong> blue white-wash s<strong>of</strong>tened the capitals and rounded <strong>of</strong>f the bottoms <strong>of</strong> the walls.<br />
They sit unmoving, hands upon their knees. When they <strong>of</strong>fer porridge they<br />
murmur: "Happiness.'' And when one thanks them they say, "Thanks to you."<br />
They understand Hellenic, but feign to speak it poorly so that they may laugh at<br />
us in their own tongue; but we, tooth for tooth, speak Lydian and they suddenly<br />
grow restless.<br />
I SING MY FLESH AND MY LIFE<br />
Certainly I shall not sing <strong>of</strong> celebrated mistresses. For, if they live no longer, why<br />
speak <strong>of</strong> them at all? Am I not quite similar to them? Have I not enough to do to<br />
think about myself?<br />
I shall forget you, Pasiphaë, 126 although your passion was extreme. I shall not<br />
praise you, Syrinx, nor you, Byblis, nor you, white-armed Helen, goddess-chosen<br />
from among them all!<br />
If one has suffered, I can scarcely feel it. If one has loved, I love more than she. I<br />
sing my flesh and my life, and not the sterile shades <strong>of</strong> buried lovers.<br />
Stay s<strong>of</strong>tly couched, oh, my body, according to your voluptuous mission! Taste<br />
daily joys and passions whose tomorrow never comes. Leave no pleasure<br />
unexplored, lest you regret the evening <strong>of</strong> your death.<br />
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