[BNP/E3, 78 – 93]
The Giantess.
I saw a comic giantess
At a tremendous feast alone,
Striving to eat some gorgeous mess
That formed a hard whole, as a stone.
But for her mouth it was too much
That, her avidity being such,
It doubled her void wish's hell;
And her mouth's wide, impotent clutch
Would have made laugh, did it not quell
Laughter with being horrible.
At her impossible, void feast
I saw her and, seeing her despair,
“What's that too large thing that to eat
You idly strive?” I asked of her;
And I laughed out serene[1] and rude.
She wept wild tears and said, “This meat
That by its greatness doth elude
My constant gaping, wild and sore,
Is Beauty whole and complete.”
I looked at her and laughed no more,
But I wept, for I understood.
Alexander Search.
December 6. 1907.
[1] serene /happy\