THE GOLDEN SNAKE
Reading edition
Her body’s glory is a golden snake Around Life’s tree Coiled: the tree shall break In the blast of Eternity And the coil be crushed. Too late! immortal poison has rushed Through more-than-veins. Beauty remains Though bodies rot. The fang (Though flesh the pang To flesh deliver) Strikes down more deep Than flesh, to trouble Even the ultimate sleep, The eternal dream. Though all she seem To be, like a golden bubble Shall break at the prick of Death, This shall not break: Her beauty’s sting: sharp as the sting of a snake: The sting of Beauty failing not with breath.