The Temptation

Read "The Temptation" at The Eldritch Dark:

http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/poetry/567/the-temptation

This poem by Clark Ashton Smith (CAS) was unpublished in his lifetime, and perhaps it's no  surprise given the naughty nature of the content.  

"The Temptation" seems to be born of frustration of a certain kind, but for all that charged energy, it retains the full force of poetic language:


Now, with hasty gaze, I know
All the cloven Hill has hidden --
Nymphs that rutting gods have ridden
Under suns of long ago;
Givers of a gift divine
Which the Fathers deemed malign;


The frequent use of semi-colons (rather than periods) throughout this poem encourages the reader to consume it in one breathless reading, and that pacing does accentuate the emotional tornado that must have driven the creation of "The Temptation".  As dirty poems go, this is a good one!