Lilatu Laili + 

At night on the radiant Rialto, + 

By the stars in their houses of glass, + 

I strolled with my soul in my pocket + 

And prayed that my night might not pass; + 

I have seen ’neath the high heels of Beauty + 

My heart and my soul and my shame; + 

That form! O, how often it lured me, + 

And how often I lost in the game! + 

And how often I walked in the shadow + 

Of a Laila a mile and a mile! + 

But the rapture and bliss of a vision + 

Would end in a great gush of bile. + 

To the hints that her garment would whisper + 

I have listened but I would not dare; + 

I have seen every one of my fancies + 

Retreat in the dark of her hair. + 

I have wished that each building around us + 

Was a cedar, a poplar, a pine; + 

That the men and the women were statues, + 

And the rain that was falling was wine; + 

That the lights were ethereal flowers; + 

That the cars were the nooks in the wood⁠— + 

“O, enough!” she exclaimed as she kissed me, + 

“This attic and couch are as good.” + 