Virginity

When she in dream to you is manifest
Be quiet. Do not speak. She comes but once
And words do break her hold. Be silent lest
You mouth for ever sorrow's impotence
Do not cry 'God', prostrating your body
Where all the dead lie prostrate, blind and blind
All in their seamy cloaks of pious shoddy,
There is no prayer can raise her once-drawn

§ *In faint pencil, the last line is crossed out and the following written below:
'No word of faith or love repeals her kind'.