| T. R. Smith, comp. Poetica Erotica: Rare and Curious Amatory Verse. 1921–22. | | | | Night-on-the-Waters | | By Charlotte Eaton |
| | | A STRONG woman embraced me, | |
| All night holding me closely, her cheek against my cheek. | |
| I, drawn, as to a magnet, slept soundly at intervals, she sleeping not at all, | |
| All night, the wash of calm waters upon the ship’s sides, heard in the semi-darkness, | |
| The pulse of the engine, the stoker’s shovel feeding the furnaces; | 5 |
| At daybreak rising together, joyful, quick at repartee, laughing merrily, | |
| A sense of new life-force budding at the heart of each. | |
| Each absorbing the native qualities of the other, responding to the needs of the other, | |
| Gladder because of that interchange, henceforth, each conscious of the affinity in the other, | |
| But when on arriving, she left me, my joy went out as a candle that is suddenly extinguished, | 10 |
| So much her strong presence entered into, and possessed me. | | | | |
|
|
