T. R. Smith, comp. Poetica Erotica: Rare and Curious Amatory Verse. 1921–22.

Ivory and Rose

By Louis Untermeyer (1885–1977)


(From The New Adam, 1920) HERE in this moonlit room, I watch you slip
One shoulder from your dress and turn to me;
A polished statue, flushing to the tip
Of marble fingers gradually.

And, like a ripe moon out of flimsy clouds,	5
Blossoms the shining fulness of your breast.
These curves conceal, this dear perfection shrouds
A soft, miraculous nest.

Your ivory body pulses as the white
Flesh catches flame and rosy tremblings move	10
Over this sanctuary of delight,
The last asylum of our love.