#thy art iis murder

[aestheticpebbles]

Servus Dei

Pairing: Priest!AU Aegon II Targaryen x reader

Warnings: NSFW/18+ ONLY! MINORS WILL BE BLOCKED, MDNI!, swearing, violence, murder, smut, religious/catholicism imagery/mentions/themes, priest+nun power dynamic abuse, dirty talking, light dubcon if you squint, fluff if you squint harder, use of alcohol, porn with plot, fingering, overstimulation, choking, oral (f receiving), p in v intercourse.

Summary: Father Aegon arrived at your convent, but things become alarming once you realize he isn’t the priest he appears to be.

Word Count: 8.1k

A/N: fic below the cut! not religious at all so please correct me if I messed anything up! also, not proofread… but enjoy! inspo from his cunty hair serving from s1.ep.8.

1548. Somewhere outside of Florence, Italy.

“Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.“

The rosary beads clenched tightly laced around your slender fingers nearly gave way to a pinching sensation between your knuckles as you prayed under your breath, reciting ‘Our Father’ as you do every morning upon dressing into your white habits and joining the nuns and sisters at the first morning service of your convent.

However, you weren’t sent here upon your own bidding, rather than fulfilling the wish of your parents after they sought to nip your rebellious streak of your late teenage years in the bud after you expressed during a drunken fit that you instead wished to dance and drink until you dropped before marrying off to some Lord.

You knew your parents did this to reduce any scandalous likelihood of you, an unwed daughter of a newer-money noble family, boring a bastard, but you still did not forgive them for your new life of chastity and divine mercy worship. Yawn.

You were still considered to be relatively new to the convent as you were just beginning your second year of working towards your devotion to God and being tested on your postulancy, so you still wore white robes and veils rather than black. You felt as though you had done well in your studies of the faith thus far considering the circumstances in which you were brought here upon.

“Good morning sister,” Sister Hilda, another white-robed sister about a year older than you, smiled once the first service ended and you found a place next to her side while making your way to the dining hall for breakfast.

The sun’s morning rays that began to peek over the horizon illuminated the dining hall with a dim, blue hue as the world awakened. You both made yourselves plates of bread and cheeses before sitting down together. Talk was kept small and hushed between the two of you while discussing various scriptures and chores needed to be done.

“I heard the new priest is arriving this morning,” Sister Hilda suddenly whispered under her breath, my eyes flickering up to meet her gaze upon the sudden topic of a conversation that could be considered borderline gossip and would serve much to the dismay of any superiors if anyone would overhear the two white-robed and veiled young women conversing over such a topic.

Instead of scolding Sister Hilda once your gazes met, you proved your nature of still wearing the white fabrics rather than blacks by leaning in as well about an inch or so, quickly looking around to see if anyone was lingering nearby to eavesdrop before responding to her.

“Is that so?” Your eyebrow cocked up in surprise. There had been talks of a new priest that had recently left from an abbey outside of London, and was continuing his preach of faith now here with us at our nunnery as our current priest was, well, he was old, “have you…?”

“Within the hour, I heard,” Sister Hilda’s eyes lit up with excitement, proving her own nature as she still struggled with her own inner turmoil with such activities. You found the vow of celibacy at first to be something that you wouldn’t have to think twice about while you devoted yourself, but as time went on, you found yourself seeking repentance and trying to pray away the gnawing feeling you felt bubbling within sometimes that made you doubt your own worth in the eyes of the faith.

You nodded once, acknowledging her words carefully with a playful side smirk. Though gossip was highly discouraged, word still had many opportunities to be carried by the wind throughout the dormitories of your convent.

“Il suo nome?” Your voice dropped down low once more after a few moments, switching from English to Italian just to be safe when you asked Hilda ‘his name?’, but she only shrugged in response, unsure of the answer either.

After breakfast, like usual, you found yourself in the library as you were one of the few sisters who, thanks to your upbringing in a decently noble family, had been taught Latin. You often found means of completing your daily chores by aiding in the translation of Holy passages and texts.

Today, you had been handed a scripture to be translated by an older nun who always wore a signature grouch, so there wasn’t much to be said when you were given the dusty book made of animal skin and thick, waxy lacing that secured the spine.

A relic of the sort lost to at least 300 years, resurfaced once more only to become your problem to deal with when you immediately find yourself scowling under your veil at the faded ink on the ancient pages. You stood up and found yourself a dictionary in Latin just in case whoever wrote that damn pitiful book didn’t know what they were saying, much to the older nun’s dismay but you didn’t care as you sat back down with a murmured ‘God help me’ under your breath.

Dipping your feather quill into a small jar of black ink, you began your day’s work of translating the pages that were practically threatening to fall apart as you delicately turned over each one.

It possibly would have felt odd for another white-veiled sister like yourself to have been tasked with translating such an eerie text of those who wore multiple, yet all beautiful faces and how to ward them off, but like it was just another day, it was just another book of Latin words that you were tasked to translate into fresh ink of English literature between your obligatory meetings for daily prayers and masses with the others, and you’ve read worse.

Your legs were itching to stand after sitting down for an extended period of time, nearly a static-like burn radiating deep as you leaned back in your chair from your upright posture, slouching your shoulder forward for a grace moment with an exhale before standing upright once more properly in case the Abbess, Mother Esther, walked by.

Afternoon sunlight beams shone through a nearby window that you now stood in front of trying to warm yourself up from the cooler temperature of the library, your muscles easing against the windowsill as your wrists and fingers had ached for a little while as well.

Being on the 2nd floor of the building meant having a lovely view of the convent’s architectural layout and the courtyard within the open holdfast of about an acre or so. A few young black locust trees littered the acre, creating enjoyable spots for shaded rest you occasionally found yourself under, almost smiling to yourself when thinking about better times than translating 300+ year old scriptures from Latin to English about an ill-satiable apparition—it’s biblical name, Agneo, one who shapeshifts and requires to feeds from the sins of its prey. A book of complete lunacy that was a blessing in disguise as it gave you something to do.

However, the momentary bliss of recounting suddenly soured once you realized you were about to miss the 4th prayer service mass of the day when you looked down from the window and saw a huddle of those remaining outside waiting to file along inside in orderly fashion across the courtyard of your convent.

It was no use to try to rush out and attempt to make it, so you hesitantly let out a tense sigh and leaned against the window still, your eyes moving to ground below until you saw mainly atop skulls of Mother Esther dressed in her finest– and in tow, a man that nearly made your lips part upon the sight of his features after the involuntary oath of celibacy you took on.

Broad shouldered, his face even from above was sharp-featured, straight nosed, and platinum blond hair as could be neatly combed and parted down the middle. He is, undeniably, the most beautiful man you have ever laid your wretched eyes on, and the sight made your legs press together as you watched the two of them below you.

Once seeing him, you were desperate to see Sister Hilda to willingly break your vows of what your new lifestyle meant to share the gossip of sin, to gossip silly words that meant plenty well beneath the surface that meant for yourself at least to have plenty of reason to seek confession and repentance from His mercy in the foreseeable future.

During your brief moment of pure sin, or what sin at least means to you at the time, you let out a small gasp and moved away from the glass realizing the neat head of hair was slowly tilting upwards in an almost premeditated manner, and from the 2nd floor, his ice blue eyes burned scorching hot daggers like the gates of hell straight into your soul for the mere seconds that you held his sudden eye contact.

As if he knew you were standing there above him and Mother Esther, as if he knew you had been leaning against the edge of the windowsill with your legs crossed and your thighs pressed together at the perfect angle while you watched them when you were supposed to be in the 4th prayer service.

Your heart was pounding in a mixture of adrenaline, anticipation, and … excitement. A certain feeling you haven’t felt since before being sent here. Desire.

Despite shifting away from your original stance next to the window, your vision couldn’t move away any further out of sight from him as the two of you kept your eyes locked.

Within that brief moment that felt like eternity and despite the temptation that threatened to fester within your neglected core now reigniting, the hairs on the back of your neck standing up as your instincts inside your mind began screaming ‘flight’ but your feet were cemented in place while looking down into his cold, dead eyes.

Behind the decrepit Mother Esther’s back, the new priest held his eye contact with you with a stone-like expression of almost disgust until the corners of his lips tugged and curled upright into a smirk. One side of his lips tugged higher than the other side and it made your blood run cold despite the heat pooling between your legs.

You exhaled once his head turned to meet Mother Esther’s as she turned back around to him to point out the library, and the two of them continued on and you were finally able to move from the frozen stance you held.

You had managed to avoid the new priest, his name quickly learned by you through Sister Hilda to be Father Aegon—until you found yourself kneeling before him at the altar rails while he wore the same disgustedly amused expression while placing the communion bread into your cupped palms sitting upright.

“Amen,” you murmured softly, placing the wafer into your mouth as he extended his other hand and brought the cup of wine in front of you as you swallowed thickly.

“The blood of Christ, shed for you,” Father Aegon nearly purred, the sound of his voice speaking directly to you for the first time was intimidating enough, let alone the manner in which it rolled off of his tongue was enough to catch you off guard and leave you stunned at such a vocal display during a Holy service.

Your lips had parted a few centimeters due to your shock and your bottom lip quivered as you barely choked out another ‘amen’ in response while he pressed the rim of the chalice against the pillowed flesh.

Maybe it was the way he spoke, or the way he wears devilish tight-lipped smiles like he knows he's fluffing up another chicken house with unpreened, unruffled hens who live among cobwebs, or maybe it’s the way you can feel him staring straight down into your soul as you took a sip of the wine while holding eye contact with him up through your eyelashes.

After drinking the same wine since the day you first arrived and you had returned to your seat, you realized on your tongue that the aftertaste of the once bitter representation of the Blood of Christ was now sweet. Too sweet.

The type of sweet that makes the feeling of temptation to yearn for more not sound half bad even though you still found shame while you prayed in your seat until the end of the communion, even more so in the hours that followed when nobody else seemed to comment on the wine. As if the taste was unchanged to the rest.

You actually managed well to avoid Father Aegon as he settled in and slowly took over hosting more and more masses and prayers over the next fortnight, though it was absolute agony that was slowly chipping away at your sanity.

No matter the distance between the two of you, an unnerving fear always found you when in his presence and even more so if it was without your knowledge on a passing occasion or he could see you but you couldn’t see him. Since the day he arrived, you felt like you were no longer alone at any moment, always holding your breath to turn a corner like an accidental dance of cat and mouse for no real reason.

You’d be shunned if you dared speak the reason of your maintained distance being temptation, even if you were going such lengths avoiding him to resist such.

Father Aegon’s piercing gaze alone sent chills down your spine, enough to rattle the assembled vertebrae within the confines of your habits just like the one that coursed through you while you browsed the shelves of the library looking for works regarding astronomy to keep you company in the late hours after the Midnight Mass.

You didn’t need to see him to know he was likely stalking nearby, whispering with that strangely enticing demeanor he holds himself up with, and the way his perfectly plump lips were always cocked in some purse of amusement to offset the dark purple, sunken look to his eyes as if he hadn’t slept in days, weeks.

Your own eyes had begun to mirror Father Aegon’s sullen look as well during your descent into the madness occurring within your mind when you started to lose sleep because of him sinking his claws into you even in your dreams filled with imagery of sin beyond your comprehension. The more time you spent trying to avoid him, the more he encroached upon every aspect of your life and you hadn’t so much but exchange momentary glances and proper greetings spoken hushed on your part.

After all, anyone would find holding eye contact difficult with one whom they have carnal, perverse dreams about, waking up panting in the middle of the night covered in sweat and an agonizing pool between your legs. Even after waking up you could still feel his touch on your skin.

Though what terrified you the most was the eventual visible appearance that left residual memory fragments from the vivid dreams, as if they themselves were distant memories, real memories, from the past. Gripping bruises protected by layers were littered around your wrists, arms, thighs, breasts, small bite marks and scratches even as well. Some even would remain red, or pink as if they had just occurred moments or hours prior, but that couldn’t be possible.

You’ve been alone all these nights… right?

“What could possibly interest you at such an hour, sister?” The voice of the dreaded priest you desperately sought to avoid drew out from behind you, causing your shoulders to roll back into a stiffened posture to play off the chill that threatened to visibly shake you. You closed your eyes for a moment while goosebumps broke out across your skin hidden beneath the white fabrics before quickly reaching up to grasp the book you intended to grab and pulled it close to your chest before turning around to face him.

“Astronomy, Father,” you answered without nearly half a spine, mentally cursing yourself at your inability to hold yourself with dignity when subject to his commanding gaze.

Father Aegon never failed to not wear his smug grin that seemed to compliment the sullen orbs that were half-lidded in what could only be described by a blind person as being a seductive manner. When you finished answering him and his smirk grew, you didn’t miss his tongue swiping across his pillowy bottom lip— both stained red… and the smell that belonged to that of alcohol.

You swallowed thickly once putting the puzzle pieces in place and your fingers gripped the corners of the book tighter and the edges dug into the creases of your fingers creating a pleasant stinging sensation to help stay grounded. The priest, he who is supposed to live and serve to proclaim the word of God, stood here before you with sweet wine coating his wicked tongue with practiced precision.

Father Aegon had sin written all over his cruelly beautiful face. Certainly not to be trusted at any given second.

Father Aegon’s smug half-smirk was still etched on his mouth that sent another chill down your spine when his irises unmistakably fell from holding your gaze down to your own lips with those lazily-hooded blue eyes swirling with emotions beyond your somewhat innocent comprehension.

Father Aegon was absolutely terrifying to be around, but although your fear didn’t directly come from him, your own body produces enough cortisol and epinephrine for an entire herd of corralled sheep waiting to be slaughtered by just being around him. Afraid of the fact that if he touched you right now, you know you wouldn’t be able to stop. Afraid of the fact that you know he may know how you truly feel deep down by just looking at you with those eyes that appear to be hiding an inferno from within himself.

“Copernicus…” Father Aegon suddenly murmured with a cock of his eyebrow as if he had posed the single word as a question rather than the affirmative tone he used when referencing the Polish astronomer whose works had caught your interest when accessible, “you like him, Sister?”

“He’s an accomplished astronomer and a fine mathematician,” you responded carefully, unsure of the waters of the moment and feeling the bile threatening to rise and expel which prompted you to kindly dismiss yourself wishing to depart to rest for the evening until he suddenly reached out as you turned to walk. His taut grip around your dainty wrist in comparison to his large hand was daunting and was an unexpected rush of surprise-horror when you were practically yanked back where you stood before him.

“Hm,” Father Aegon hummed in amusement, a flash of something eerie glazing over his lazily hooded eyes while his strong grip on your wrist loosened slightly, but not without his calloused thumbpad grazing gently across the delicate skin of the underside of your wrist, “why don’t you come by my office tomorrow evening? I have a piece that would interest you… brought it with me from when I met him briefly at Oxford.”

Your own eyebrow cocked at his words, nearly-half bewildered that a man like him went from such a prestigious place like the Oxford society to… priesthood in Florence where he, in the middle of the night, now was intoxicated and having you cornered like a rat subject to his mercy while his thumb caressed your wrist like a coveted lover.

Your eyes flickered down to the tight grip he held on your arm and you dared to pull once more, and much to your surprise he let go. Looking back up at him, he was amused with a strange sense of triumph like he could already foresee the internal turmoil you would be rolling in all day tomorrow until you would eventually cave in within yourself to give in and seek him out for the sake of knowledge.

Wasn’t that the sin of Eve? Coaxed by the snake, the devil, to taste the forbidden apple of knowledge?

Father Aegon wouldn’t taste half as sweet as an apple, but a part of you knew deep down that with dealing with a man like him and his caliber comes with knowing the venom from his fanged canines would likely sting twice as bad in the days to come if you did not seek him out.

So like the loyal hound you were, there weren’t many inhibitions that stopped your fingers from clasping the golden ring hanging from a matching golden lion’s head mounted on the wooden door and knocking twice. You knew you had no business being here at this hour. You had stopped by this very office twice today, once before dinner, and again afterwards but left both times with only pursed lips and heightened anxiety. Evening. Evening. Evening.

“Sister…” Father Aegon grinned upon seeing the sweet lamb standing there outside of his door waiting so patiently for him like the good girl that he knew she is even if she couldn’t muster any words to properly greet him. He stepped out of your way with an outstretched palm directed towards an empty chair sitting on the other side of his desk, the open hand gesturing to you to sit, “please, come in.”

Shame and humility fueled the pace that drove your footsteps from the corridor and into his working office in a scurry, the fuel most delectable for sin to fester within and grow necrotic while Father Aegon shut the door behind you. You couldn’t miss the sound of the lock turning over as you focused on your breathing pattern and your fumbling fingertips toying with one another as you sat down and silently pulled your chair in under yourself.

It wasn’t the locking of the door that made your eyes widen, but watching him pick up a golden, jeweled chalice that sat on the edge of his desk with matching rings adorning his thick digits, taking a hearty swig while sauntering behind you and over to a large bookshelf on the left wall that likely carried prized works both owned by the convent and his finest pieces.

You kept your head straight for the most part, only tilting it slightly to be able to keep an eye on him in the corner of your peripheral and through the thin white veil head covering, watching his ringed finger reach up to one of the shelves while the other hand held the chalice. The way he moved so freely was almost sensual in a way, his fingertip grazing the spines of the prized collection of knowledge as he searched using the dim orange glow emanating from the roaring hearth that danced as the flames waved.

“Tell me, sweet girl, what is it about the stars that calls to you… draws your attention so?” Father Aegon suddenly broke the silence that only hosted the soft crackling of the embers causing your head to angle slightly more in his direction. You swallowed thickly again, inhaling through your nose while watching his index finger curl around a medium-sized book and gently tug it free from the confines of the neat shelf.

“One can’t help but wonder who they are,” you answered shakily, referring to the stars themselves, the subconscious anxious habit of your fingertips toying with one another going full blast in your lap that had sparked back to life hearing the previous words of endearment he must addressed you with as if he was toying with you too, “what are they… what are they made of?”

Father Aegon nodded slowly with another hum of acknowledgment as he turned on his heel with his chin cockily angled, walking back over to where you sat on the other side of his desk and stepped next to your chair. He held out the book for you to take and you did after a moment of hesitation, taking the book delicately from him as your eyes danced over the intricate stitching and adhesives carefully applied that held the valuable text together.

He stood over you for a moment with one hand on the back of your chair, the other bringing the rim to his lips for another swig before he let go, much to your approval as you let out an exhale you didn’t realize you were holding, and stepped away to sit down in his own chair on the other side of the desk while you admired and he purred out, “the book… Copernicus’ heliocentric theories. One of the first copies given to me from Nicolaus himself. I’ll let you borrow it for the evening...”

You couldn’t hide the spark of interest that illuminated behind your eyes at the topic that you had been wishing to learn more about as the theories were still considered recent developments. A small smile crept onto your face but you quickly pursed your lips together to swallow your pride and triumph– something that didn’t pass by Aegon, but the suggestive tone towards the end of his final words didn’t pass by you either.

“Thank you Father,” you murmured softly, your thumbs grazing over the pressed letters of the title embossed and sealed by gold leaflets, “you are very gracious.”

Father Aegon only chuckled darkly, something you hadn’t heard yet until now and it was scarier to experience first hand than his empty, soul-piercing glare.

He took another sip of his wine before setting the chalice down on the desktop and leaning forward on his forearms with intertwined fingers and an unmistakable gleam in his wicked eyes, “I’ll tell you what Sister. I have heard nothing but good remarks regarding your performance… I’ll let you have it if you promise to take good care of it.”

Your eyebrows shot up in surprise and your forehead scrunched in confusion, lips parting in shock but quickly stammering out a response to his words while gently placing the book down on the desk with a forced smile. A part of joining sisterhood was an oath of poverty despite your aversion to the lifestyle but your conditioning was taking over your frazzled mindset, and a book of that value had no business being in your possession good marks or not.

“Father I-I apologize, I can’t accept such a gift, you honor me but-I,” your tongue and lips failed to coordinate without an exasperated stutter while your brain misfired, only making Father Aegon’s lips curl further upwards in a devious smile.

“Call it a favor then,” Father Aegon replied with a low purr, his half-lidded eyes missing any trace of the blue pigment against the orange hue of the fire and the darkness of the world as he stood up, slowly stalking back around to where he stood behind your chair again.

“A…favor?” Your eyebrows dropped from the cocked expression of shock into one of weary alert as you tried to read him as best as you could, holding eye contact with him until he eventually always won with the inferno that reflected in his black holes for dilated irises while he walked to your most vulnerable side.

“A favor,” Father Aegon sluggishly murmured in response, his teeth baring in his amused grin when you flinched feeling the topside of the joints of his fingers reach up from behind you and brush against your cheek.

Your eyelids fluttered under his delicate brushing touch against your cheek, unable to comprehend a single thought in regard to how to react to such inappropriate behavior and gestures being exchanged, but after involuntary celibacy and conditioned shame, it only drove you further mad yearning for the touch of a skilled lover after being denied such pleasures for so long.

It wasn’t until his index finger pressed against the underside of your chin to lift your head up and his thumb curling up to press against your bottom lip that you were violently dragged back to reality. Looking up at him while fidgeting with your fingers absentmindedly in your lap, he smiled deviously as if he was a child with free reign in a candy shop.

He stepped in front of you to enter the small space available between you sitting in the chair and his desk, leaning against the edge as he twisted and reached back to grab the chalice he’d left behind, turning back to you. Your heart pounded in your chest watching him extend his hand, guiding the rim to your lips and raising the cup for gravity to let the rich, deep red juice funnel into your mouth as if you were kneeling at the altar and had already received your tasteless communion wafer.

Eyes widening, you realized he wasn’t relenting until you finished off the remnants of the chalice when he kept tilting the cup’s stem and you having to swallow in faster lapses than expected to keep up with his antics causing you to choke softly.

You pursed your lips shut tightly with a bemused expression on your face between his actions and the sweet red wine, unable to save the small bead that gathered and trickled down from your lip to your chin, but Aegon was there to spare your white habits from any stains with a brush of his thumb collecting the alcoholic nectar and bringing it to his own lips to suck clean off.

“Tell me… why are you really here?” Father Aegon slurred out between tipsy snickers after releasing his thumb with a sickly sweet suckle like he knew exactly the effect he had on you and the reactions you were willing to give back with a little shove.

“My parents wished not for scandal,” you blurted out, almost like not caring how sloppy you spoke for the sake of your own honorable presentation.

“So, you liked to get around. You liked to have fun… you were a whore?” Father Aegon’s grin was wicked and curled up with a sense of malice as he gently caressed your cheek while you shared details about yourself to him. You knew he found some sort of satisfaction with your words by the way his teeth clenched like he was thinking hard through the intoxicated haze of his own mind.

“Um-,” your eyebrows furrowed again, a streak of anger shooting through you causing you to flinch again away from his hand, pulling out of his grasp on your chin as you stood up, not willing to explain to him that laying with two men that you had possibly seen as prospective husbands doesn’t make a young lady… a whore, “I apologize Father this is highly inappropriate. I should go.”

Your abrupt reaction to his words seemed to replace the playful gleam in his eyes with one that teetered on the edge of malice and danger, one that made your blood run cold. Panic flared through you when he dropped the golden chalice without care, and grabbing your wrist with one hand, yanking you back down to sit again.

“We are not done talking, Sister,” Father Aegon snarled out, a sinister gleam in his eyes while he stood up straight, letting go of your wrist only to take a hold of your chin once more, your lips slightly smushed between his fingers, “I haven’t given you permission to dismiss yourself.”

“I-I am sorry, Father,” you sputtered out, unsure of how to respond to him and his firm, calculated grip that always reminded you he was one step ahead at any given point. Aegon only hummed in amusement, his moist tongue darting out to swipe across his bottom lip as he turned your head in his grip from side to side, studying the details of your face against the orange glow from the inferno of the fireplace.

“Let me see you show it…Prove it,” Father Aegon’s eyes lit up in deranged excitement while yours glossed over in confused horror, sitting frozen in shock while he kept his grip on your chin with one hand, the other reaching up seemly to lovingly caress your cheek only to fist a palm full of your white veil, forcefully undressing your dreadful headdress and revealing one of your secrets you hid from your other Sisters. Instead of cutting your hair short like the rest, you kept yours braided and secured beneath your headdress, the same one Aegon pulled off without hesitation that made your jaw drop in disbelief.

“I don’t understa-,” you cried out in a sudden frustration, angered that he was abusing the power dynamic he knew he held, then still having enough fuel inside him when daring to lay a hand on you in such an inappropriate manner and revealing your hair.

If your Sisters found out you hid your hair, you could suffer greatly socially, and Aegon just paved his way straight over without any second thoughts. Your words though were cut off when his fingers clutched your braids and yanked you back to your feet.

“Understand this, doll. I see the way you look at me, how you scurry away from me like a mouse, there’s nowhere you can hide from me,” Father Aegon taunted, his dilated pupils laced with delirium and sin as he maniacally giggled, “I know everything.”

Any protests or shrill shrieks that could have escaped your mouth would be forced to be made straight into Father Aegon’s mouth that nearly swallowed your face whole when his lips came colliding down on yours in a pre-established sloppy, yet demanding kiss.

You wished to want the will to release a frightful scream against his lips, to cry out in disgust, to thrash around violently in his concrete hold on you while he forced his tongue into your mouth after letting go of your chin and dropping down to your hip.

His grip quickly moved from squeezing your hip around to your backside, grabbing a fistful of your buttock and his other hand still holding and tugging on your hair to elicit a gasp while your palms were outstretched when pressing back against his firm chest, but you did none of those things as your mind began buzzing softly, signaling the beginning the swirling descent into a tipsy haze from the amount of alcohol he had you consume in one sitting.

In fact, you did the opposite once the taste of him resonated with you when you found yourself sucking back on his tongue instead of screaming and crying about your dignity, your outstretched palms bundling up the fabric of his neat, black collar between your fingers like a deserted whore needy for more. Because that’s exactly what you felt like, and the realization made you sick when you suddenly were spun around in his groping embrace to be lifted onto the desktop.

Father Aegon wasted no time shoving his knee between your legs and parting them to situate himself between your legs without breaking the heated exchange between your lips that caused soft groans to escape from the both of you.

His hand that held your buttock again wasted no time reaching under your skirts, hiking the fabric up while he held your whimpering skull in place by your hair as he kissed down your jawline, panting heavily in your ear when he traced up your inner thigh.

He smiled wickedly against the shell of your ear while you managed to let out a stifled moan feeling his fingertips slither their way past your small clothes dampened by your arousal, massaging agonizingly slow circles against your clothed clit, sending ripples of electricity through your body. a soft, humiliating ‘there she is’ was murmured into the cartilage that echoed down to your eardrum once your lips parted with your surrender and giving into his touch, your cheeks shamefully burning red hot.

“For someone who took a vow of chastity, your cunt weeps like a virgin,” Father Aegon nibbled softly on your earlobe while your face contorted in pent-up pleasure and your mind swirled. In truth, you hadn’t truly consumed that much alcohol, but the effect he had on your mind caused the effect to feel 10-fold from the scent of his musk and the wine on his lips, his wretched tongue and damned touch assaulting all of your senses out of nowhere.

Your fingers clutching onto his black button up gripped on for dear life feeling his fingers begin to variate their course from rubbing circles to teasing your slit before dropping down, his middle finger breaching fully past your entrance coaxing a shrill gasp from your throat that his lips were licking and placing open-mouthed kissing down. One of your hands jumped from his shirt to his bicep, wincing from the sudden scissoring penetration as he got to work establishing a pace.

“Fuck, your pussy is so tight,” Aegon murmured quietly through a groan against your skin, your entrance clamping down almost painfully around the 2nd digit he teased your tight hole with for a moment before adding it in, his middle and ring finger moving in and out of you in overwhelming patterns that made you look at the back of your skull doubled with the feeling of his free hand suddenly groping your breast through your robes, pinching and rolling your clothed nipple between his fingertips, “this pussy ever been fucked?”

Your eyes rolled back straight and snapped wide open at the vulgarity of his words, your lips parted further in sheer shock that those words could at all even be used together in a sentence, but your body was still betraying you as you ground your hips against his hand that was fucking you mercilessly. How this man became a priest was beyond you at this point, barely choking out a ‘yes’, his gaze darkening as if that wasn’t what he wanted to hear and he let go of your breast, reaching up behind the nape of your neck again.

Aegon’s hand found a hold your braided hair and twisted once more, a pained cry leaving your lips and your eyes screwing shut in another wince while his own lips were curled upwards. His eyes bright with a sinister intent, his other hand still pumping his two fingers in and out and you panted with a heaving chest.

“My name, sweet girl, say it right,” Aegon purred with an underlying, dangerous tone of voice that hid the true intentions that he was only giving you one chance to say it right despite multiple answers being applicable to stroke his ego while his fingers repetitively curling a ‘come hither’ motion within you.

“Yes sir,” you finally cried out, his chest emanating a grunt of acceptance meanwhile your spine arching as the coil deep within you threatened to build up. As if Aegon could read you like the back of his hand, he let go of your hair and reached around you as he swiped everything, including the prized book, clear from off of his desk.

He withdrew his fingers from your weeping cunt much to your dismay, only to be rendered speechless when he used both of his hands to grab and move you by your hips to the side of the desk, using one to shove your back down to lay on the surface and the other to hastily hiked up the skirt of your habits as his head dipped down, his lips kissing and his teeth nipping up your inner thighs.

You prayed that nobody was walking by Father Aegon’s office as they’d receive earfuls of lewd cries that fumbled from your throat in wails after he practically dove headfirst, your legs on his shoulders and his hands holding you in place by your thighs as his lips and tongue got to work swirling and sucking on your clit.

His platinum silver curls that were neatly parted down the middle, combed and slicked back behind his ears was disheveled within seconds as you reached down and carded through his hair, crying out in pleasure and awe at his ability to seem like he already knew every inch of you by heart.

“O-Oh my,” you squeaked out, your jaw agape as you tried to grind your hips against his face as he groaned delicious vibrations against your core, his tongue in place of his fingers greedily drawing your essence from your walls in filthy slurps that had you sobbing praises in a pleading mantra as you writhed in place.

“That’s it, good girl,” Aegon praised between quiet growls, kitten-licking your tented and overstimulated bud leaving you whining and yearning for more. The coil had begun to wind up tightly in your lower belly creating a burning sensation that threatened to snap like a taut rubber band.

“I’m gonna’ come,” you cried out softly and he chuckled darkly, nipping your sensitive flesh before suckling harshly that elicited a sharp yelp from your throat that quickly morphed into a wail of surprise as you flew headfirst into your first orgasm in almost two years. Aegon feasted and slurped every drop that expelled from your contracting cunt like a starved man, groaning in delight when your evidence of ecstasy from his touch spilled from your aching core and into his greedy mouth that caused your toes to curl painfully.

Father Aegon quickly stood up, not bothering to wipe his fingers and chin that were still glistening with the residue of your orgasm causing a deep blush to form on your flushed cheeks as you slowly came back to reality from the sound of his belt unbuckling.

Aegon hastily reached into his pants and pulled his throbbing cock free from the confines of his black dress trousers, watching his beautifully plump lips parting when he slapped the angrily flushed head against your weeping cunt a few times. His vile actions were so bewildering you were rendered speechless once more, unable to formulate words when looking up at him with bleary eyes as he fondled your folds for a few seconds, gathering your slick and smearing it across his tip and down his thick shaft waiting impatiently to fuck you in half.

“This is wrong. I-We shouldn’t do this. I don’t want this. God for-,” you managed to blurt out in soft whimpers, lying to yourself to try to hold onto the last shred of dignity you had while shaking your head only earning a sadistic smile in response from Father Aegon as he cut you off.

“You don’t want this? You weren’t the same girl watching me, pressing her thighs together as she hid in the library? Stupid girl, you’re so desperate and touch-starved, I could smell your cunt from outside. Your False God isn’t here. He can’t save you,” Aegon cooed softly, shutting you up immediately as you were left staring at him like he sprouted three-heads. You wouldn’t be surprised at this lint though. A priest using the words ‘False God’— how ironic.

Despite his cruel words, his tone of voice was almost sickly sweet if his hand wasn’t guiding the head of his cock back to your entrance and you braced yourself with a shrill gasp while he leaned forward, his lips brushing against yours while he giggled maniacally under his breath sending chills of fear down your spine.

Father Aegon whispered in a taunting sneer as he continued to threaten you in a gravelly voice under his breath, the stench of wine still lingering on his tongue mixed with your release, “oh, pretty girl, the only God here is me,” and with that, he pistoned his hips forward.

A sharp hissing cry fell from your lips feeling the tip of his cock parting your neglected walls, splitting you from the inside out as your jaw hung agape and his eyes were wide– almost deliriously so as his own jaw hung agape too as if he was breathing out the energy of the cries carried out by your exhales while it seemed as though your body was losing energy as the seconds passed on. Like his hand, his hips made work establishing a steady pace as he fucked you open for him, drawing raw shrieks from your diaphram that forced him to clamp his hand down over your mouth.

“Shut the fuck up,” Aegon snarled against the back of his hand as your eyes rolled back, his lips kissing the corner of your parted lips when he finally let go of your mouth after the initial burn within your core dissolved and your sobs died down. His plump lips continued to kiss down your jaw, suckling and nibbling up and down your neck as you moaned and cried out shamelessly.

His words were absolutely vile and defiling and he knew it only spurred your innocent heart further, his hand that was pressed against your mouth dropping back down to grope your breast as he fucked you deeply, “God your cunt was made for my cock. Fuck it’s so fuckin’ tight– you like it when I talk to you like that? You like being fucked like some needy slut? ‘Course you do. What would your Sisters think if they found out what their whore pupil was doing in here?”

“I can’t, I can’t,” you suddenly started blabbering out in response despite your own legs hiking up around his hips to draw him in closer, your hands reaching up and gripping onto whatever you could while you rocked back and forth to his merciless motions.

“Yes you can,” Aegon panted breathlessly against your skin, his tongue swiping across your collarbone as he grunted over and over in his own world of desire, the lewd sound of skin slapping and your cunt squelching was foul in harmony with the considerably romantic blazing of the fireplace while he kissed his way back up your neck and caught your lips in another fiery, sloppy kiss between grunts and moans and cries of pleasure.

He murmured against your lips and his free hand not holding you down against the desktop in place by your breast being kneaded between his fingers, reaching between the two of you with his other hand and rubbing furious circles on your overstimulated clit, “say my fuckin’ name. give it all to me.”

“Aeg- I’m,” you cried out against his lips trying to obey his command to use his name while feeling the coil quickly wind tight once more as he effortlessly fucked you apart. As you came, stars littered your blacked out vision as you trembled and writhed, your spine arching pathetically trying to gather as much friction as possible while you shook in pleasure. Aegon moaned lowly feeling your walls contract and squeeze his cock as he continued without stopping, fucking you straight through the waves of ecstasy that left you feeling as though you had to piss everywhere, but that wasn’t what it was.

You could not have cared any less about any repercussions of your undoing with this man tonight— until he pulled out, flipped you around and bent you over the desk, plunging back inside of your cunt from a new angle causing a mewl to rip through you, and even more so when your walls fluttered down and you practically squirted back, coating both his legs and yours from your newfound experience of being overstimulated.

But as Aegon was turning you around, you suddenly had the perfect view of Father Aegon in the reflection of a mirror that had been hanging on the wall behind you, now seeing him in a full display in a reflection for the first time and took in the image that could have fueled your nightmares for the rest of eternity.

His shadow was cast up against the ceiling from the flames of the hearth illuminated, except two massive wings stood above Aegon and joined his body’s shadow as you mewled out incomprehensible words of confusion through the haze of pleasure that wracked your mind.

“Aegon,” your voice cracked, your eyes flickering to the mirror hanging on the wall dead ahead of the two of you, finally seeing Father Aegon for who he was finally through another lense and the sight alone made a scream of fear tear through you, but once more his hand came clasping down on your mouth and another sharp cursed reprimand dripping in poison was hurled at you from behind. The reflection of the man that had you bent over like a plaything, pistoning his thick cock roughly in and out of your aching cunt in the reflection of the mirror was unlike any creature you’d ever laid eyes on before.

In the reflection, while your face was streaked with tears and flushed in terror, his face looked nothing like what you saw with your own eyes, his reflection having beady black eyes, almost paper white skin, teeth long and sharp like fanged razors and his hands with long, clawed digits. You couldn’t miss the tall, pointed and curly black horns and the almost impressive black feathered wings that slowly rose and outstretched in the air after you said his name.

You couldn’t pull your eyes from the mirror even after he said your name, his hand eventually let go of your mouth and roughly grabbed your jaw, holding your head steady. Tears flowed hot from your eyes as you tried to thrash in his hold but it was no use as he chuckled wickedly above you, his pupils blown wide but it was no comparison to the dark, gaping holes you saw in the reflection of the mirror.

Father Aegon was no Father, no priest at all, learning within seconds that life was in fact cruel like that. Was there truly a God now realizing you had the entire situation practically spelt out for you when you translated that ancient scripture in the library, but you were too naive to realize the foreshadowing. The name of the shapeshifting apparatus isnt Agneo. It’s fucking Aegon.

This revelation truly meant only one thing: Aegon was a demon, and you, by saying his name, sealed off the deal and selling him your soul, his hand angling your chin up and to the side to press his lips down on yours, his tongue working your mouth apart once more, grunting against your lips when his pace faltered.

You felt your womb grow heavy while he panted and mewled, his wretched seed spurting from the head of his cock as his hips twitched between stilled moments, painting your walls as he moaned into the crook of your neck. You thought it’d be the end of the night, your mind too frazzled to even comprehend what to do next as your blurry eyes cracked open from being scrunched shut.

But Aegon’s nightmarish reflection remained the same, his smile sinister and evil as his snakelike tongue sharp and black as could be trailed up the side of your cheek as his hand kept its tight grip on your chin to hold you steady while he collected your salty tears on his tastebuds.

“Aegon…Please don’t hurt me,” you whispered pathetically, trying to claw at his taloned grip on your face and it almost struck a chord within his despicable body as he chuckled darkly, placing a soft kiss on your trembling cheekbone.

“I think it’s too late for that, sweet girl, you taste too divine,” Aegon purred softly, your doe eyes wide with horror watching in the reflection of his other hand reaching up, his clawed talon delicately moving a stray lock of hair from your face. He actually admired you, pleading through tears and drool and all, but the moment had to end at some point as his clawed hand caressed your temple and he murmured softly against the apple of your cheek.

“Just know this though, so far, I think you were my favorite. I might actually miss you,” Aegon kissed your pillowed flesh for the last time after vocalizing his odd apology that almost felt genuinely sentimental before his talons dug into your chin and your temple to hold you steady as you cried out in protest, then silenced for eternity after his wrists rolled and snapped your neck.

His deflating cock was still buried to the hilt within you as you dropped lifelessly against the desk, and the demon removed himself from his latest victim with a triumphant smile. He hastily readjusted himself and your skirt to cover your modesty, not that you were alive anyway to care, as he sat back down in his seat.

Father Aegon kicked up and crossed his legs on the desk while pouring himself another chalice of wine, continuing to admire your lifeless expression of shock while your pupils slowly dilated, and the blood that slowly dribbled out of your nostrils and out from your lips onto the desk. The blood dripped down onto the floor while your lost soul descended to the pits of Hell with that same sinister smirk he wore the first time he laid his eyes on you.

[thisaintascenereviews]

Best Of 2023

Well, it’s that time, guys, gals, and non-binary pals — it’s the end of the year (well, it’s already the beginning of the new year now). My buddy Jake and I collaborated on a piece that talks about our favorites of the year, but I wanted to write a bit of a companion piece, in case you didn’t want to look at that, and just wanted to know what my favorites in order were, or if you wanted more detail on what I think of these albums. I won’t waste time, let’s dig into the honorable mentions first, and I’m only going to write maybe a sentence or two on these albums, since I don’t want this to be super long. The honorable mentions are in no particular order, either, I don’t rank those, but the top ten will obviously be just that — a top ten.

Spencer Sutherland - In His Mania

This is the newest album on the list, or at least newest that I found, and Spencer Sutherland is what I call a traditional and old fashioned pop artist with modern production, and that’s what his debut album sounds like. It’s incredibly catchy, fun, and grandiose, but also sounds timeless, and he has a killer voice.

Nita Strauss - The Call Of The Void

Guitarist Nita Strauss came out with her second album, and instead of it being purely instrumental, she included a lot of guests in terms of some of the biggest names in hard rock and metal, and this album kicks a lot of ass.

Thy Art Is Murder - Godlike

Controversy aside, the new album from Thy Art Is Murder is an album that sounds like the way I remember deathcore sounding. Not to sound like an old man, but these days, a lot of the genre is about how heavy and brutal you can get, whereas a lot of what I listened to back about 15 years ago is more about just having sick riffs, solos, and killer vocals. This record reminds me of that, and their new vocalist is pretty damn good.

Honey Revenge - Retrovision

This past year was a theme for catchy and fun albums that got my attention, and one of the first ones I found was Honey Revenge’s debut, Retrovision. These guys take 00s pop-rock and add their own flair to it. I really enjoy this album and I’m excited to see where they go from here.

Broadside - Hotel Bleu

Speaking of which, Broadside had a good year with their new album, and second album with Sharptone, but they took their sound into a mixture of pop-rock, 80s pop, and pop-punk. The album is pretty damn good, and has some of my favorite cuts of the year, but it does lose me a bit with how off the wall it can get. It doesn’t flow as well as it should, but the styles they utilize here are pretty good.

Blackbraid - Blackbraid II

I’ll be honest, folks — I haven’t gotten that metal for the majority of 2023. It’s not that it was bad, and like I said in my piece with Jake, I just didn’t find enough that I really connected with. There were a few exceptions, including Thy Art Is Murder’s latest, but Blackbraid’s second album, aptly titled Blackbraid II is a great mix of black metal, indigenous music, and even some hints of thrash and traditional heavy metal.

Wayfarer - American Gothic

My other favorite black metal album of this year is the new Wayfarer album, American Gothic, and if you wanted an album that takes country, Americana, and black metal, as well as lyricism about the Wild West and the realistic history of the time and region, you’ll love this.

Boys Like Girls - Sunday At Foxwoods

Boys Like Girls are back with their first album in 11 years, give or take, and it’s a good 80s-inspired album that has some slick hooks and reflects a lot more of lead vocalist and songwriter Martin Johnson’s project The Night Game. If you enjoyed that project, you’re sure to enjoy this one.

The Electric Mayhem - S/T

The Muppets had a pretty good year in 2023, especially with The Muppets Mayhem on Disney+, but the band released their debut “album” injunction with the show, and it’s a good little covers album (with a few originals in the mix) performed by the Electric Mayhem, and what’s great about this album is that it feels as though it’s performed by the actual band and not the performers of the characters along with session musicians. This album is just a bunch of fun all around.

Aesop Rock - Integrated Tech Solutions

I hadn’t listened to hip-hop much of 2023, but if there’s one album that I wanted to hear, it’s Aesop Rock’s Integrated Tech Solutions. This is a record that shows that Aes has nothing left to prove, as he’s got a relaxed and melodic flow, lyrics that are both insightful and observational, and a concept that doesn’t make much sense on the surface, but if you dig into it, the concept works a lot better.

Spiritbox - The Fear Of Fear

Spiritbox are back after two years, at least if you don’t count their Rotoscope EP from last year, but they put out a new EP entitled The Fear Of Fear. It’s a great EP that takes elements of their previous projects and combines it all together to make for a relatively short but engaging experience that is sure to leave fans wanting more.

Archetypes Collide - S/T

Archetypes Collide is a metalcore band that has a lot in common with bands like Linkin Park, Bring Me The Horizon, and other metalcore / alt-metal bands, especially ones with a pop sensibility like, because they have elements from a lot of different styles and put it all into a blender. This record is a ton of fun, despite not having much of a unique identity. If anything, hopefully their next album throws some more unique ideas into the mix.

Wind Walkers - What If I Break?

Wind Walkers is a band that Jake showed me, actually, and these guys follow in the same footsteps, although their new album (and first in five years) What If I Break is a generic record that does what it does well, and that’s kind of about it, although it does sound really nice and fans of this style should enjoy this quite a bit.

Cannibal Corpse - Chaos Horrific

Cannibal Corpse released a new album this year, and it was a hell of a good time. Chaos Horrific is the name of it, and this record is more or less what we’ve gotten before, but this record has a lot of passion, fury, and fire in it that I can’t help but enjoy quite a lot. Cannibal Corpse is one of the first metal bands I ever got into, and it feels fitting to put it onto my list, even if it’s the honorable mentions.

Caskets - Reflections

The last honorable mention I’ve got is from another band in the post-hardcore vein that has a pop sensibility, and their second album, Reflections, sort of dials down on the R&B elements of their sound, but the pop elements are still there in full force and they rule.

That’s all the honorable mentions I got, so let’s get into the meat of the list. I don’t want to go into too much detail, because I already did in Jake and I’s piece, but I still wanted to talk about these albums in one way or another.

10: Tyler Childers - Rustin’ In The Rain

Country has a bit of theme on my list this year, and the first album on my list is Tyler Childers’ Rustin’ In The Rain. This record is a nice nostalgic-sounding album that reminds me of a lot of the 1950s and the 1960s. Childers himself even said that this album was his idea of him auditioning for Elvis Presley, and it works quite well. I came back to this record quite a lot, because of how catchy and nostalgic it was.

9: Paramore - This Is Why

Paramore came back after a six-year hiatus, and they changed their style yet again by turning into a post-punk band and it sounds great. A few songs don’t do as much for me compared to the rest, hence why it’s lower, but the stuff that’s great is truly fantastic. If there’s one band that can pull off reinvention, it’s Paramore.

8: The Maine - S/T

The Maine dropping a really solid album wasn’t on my bingo card in 2023, but here we are. Their self-titled album from last year was a slick and catchy slice of 80s pop-rock that worked wonders for me. This record is my favorite of the bunch with this similar sound, including the new Honey Revenge, Broadside, and Boys Like Girls albums.

7: Seth MacFarlane & Liz Gillies - We Wish You The Merriest

A Christmas album in my top ten of the year? Say it isn’t so, but indeed, it is. I really enjoyed this record when it dropped in November, but I’ve been enjoying it quite a bit the last couple months. I’ve been playing a bit of Christmas music, and this is the album on the rotation. I wrote a full length review of this, so if you want to see what I thought of that album in more detail, check that out, but I do really enjoy this album, nonetheless.

6: Colter Wall - Little Songs

One of my other favorite country albums this year was the new Colter Wall record, Little Songs. Another nostalgic sounding album, this one worked more so for me, because of its lyrical content and Wall’s deep baritone. I absolutely love the sound of his voice, and how unique it is, but this record feels like it came right out of 1955 in all the best ways.

5: Beartooth - The Surface

Alright, top five time, and in that spot is Beartooth’s The Surfqce. An album that is both heavy and optimistic, I love this album and how it came out. I’ve been a fan of Beartooth for the last few years, and their last couple of albums where they’ve gone into more hard rock and pop sensibilities have worked wonders for me. This record is no exception, as it’s heavy and catchy. Hardy makes an appearance, too, and for as much flack as his last album got from a lot of online critics (the album, The Mockingbird & The Crow, isn’t thaaaaaat bad, but it’s fine), he does great here. This record is a whole lot of fun, though, and I’ve been playing it quite a lot throughout the year.

4: Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit - Weathervanes

Jason Isbell’s latest record is a behemoth of a record, as its lyricism is some of the best I’ve heard all year. Isbell’s vocals are the some of the best I’ve heard all year, too, but this record is some of the best Americana, country, and heartland-rock I’ve heard all year, too. This record gives every band member a chance to breathe, but every song is potentially the best song on the record. This album isn’t as higher, only because the top three on my list are more so personal for me, whereas this isn’t a personal one for me, although a lot of stuff on this record is very poignant and insightful. A lot of very relevant topics are brought up here, including addiction, abortion, school shootings, and racism, but it’s done so in an interesting way.

3: Zach Bryan - S/T

My top three this year were no contest. Zach Bryan’s self-titled is an album that caught me by surprise; this record is such a personal yet insightful look at someone’s mental and emotional state, but this record is wonderful. It’s a bit long, clocking in at around an hour, and a few songs feel like filler, but for the most part, this record is gorgeous. Bryan’s voice is utterly fantastic, and his lyricism is unmatched. These songs are some of the best of his career, too, and I’m so glad that a few of these songs were hits, even if they ended up being minor hits.

2: Metallica - 72 Seasons

For my top two albums of the year, these are albums that mean a lot to me, because of the bands that put them out and what they represent. The first one is Metallica’s new album, and their first in seven years, 72 Seasons, but this record is important to me because Metallica is the first metal band I ever got into a decade ago this year. I’ve been able to experience two Metallica albums live since they came out, this being one of them, and I’m also a lot older now. This is a great example of album where the band can do whatever they want, and they really do that by taking on multiple styles in this record. Metallica is the biggest metal band, if not the biggest band period, in the world, so they can truly do whatever they want.

1: Fall Out Boy - So Much (For) Stardust

This was a no-brainer — my album of the year is Fall Out Boy’s latest. They’re not only my favorite band, but they really hold a special place in my heart. This record is a long time coming, too; this is their first album in five years, and they went back to basics with So Much (For) Stardust, ultimately looking back to the past but also thinking forward. I don’t want to talk about this record too much, as I wrote extensively about it when it came out, and since then, but this record is a monumental one. It’s good to have Fall Out Boy back, especially with this new album.

Cheers to 2023, folks, let’s see what 2024 brings.

[primolovebot]

MEMENTO MORI: CHAPTER II

IL SOGNO. 

I finally feel like I got my shit together on this one. I hope you enjoy it even though it’s a lil less smutty! I’m already way too obsessed with the oc.  This chapter is about 3,600 words long!

AO3 LINK HERE - honestly I think it’s a little easier to read there than here.

Red light lingered in the chapel from the stained glass. It shone over pews full of worshippers kneeling in prayer. There were never any empty seats whenever Terzo returned from tour. His sermons were the highest attended in centuries. It turned out many Satanists were great fans of the project and treated Papa more like a rockstar than a Pope.

"Our father

Who art in hell

Unhallowed be thy name."

The believers quietly murmured along with him; only a few needed to follow along in the Dark Book. It was serene until Papa stopped abruptly. Leonardo slowly glanced up to see what caused the interruption.

Time slowed as Terzo's head began bouncing down the carpeted stairs. The room grew eerily silent. No one moved. No one gasped. No one breathed. All was still. His body stood tall at the altar, his papal robes slowly beginning to drench with blood. The head left a dark red trail as it continued to roll towards the aisle. 

Slowly the quiet sermon began again. 

"Cursed be the sons and daughters

Of thine Nemesis."

At first, Leonardo thought it was Papa speaking. Yet as he stood up to check, he finally noticed the Cardinal standing at the top of the steps, holding a soaked sword in his right hand. 

Copia had killed Papa and was finishing his sermon for him. 

He reached out, pushing Terzo's body over as he locked eyes with Leo. The corpse hit the marble floor with a thud.

 The soft words turned into a loud chant as he descended the steps. The sound surrounded Leonardo. Copia was all he could hear. 

"Whom are to blame

Thy kingdom come

Nema,"

He should have been scared. He should have run. Yet it was oddly comforting. This was his finacé, murderer or not. They studied one another as the Copia seemed to float in closer.

The light made The Cardinal look sinister. His face was hardly recognizable, only his smirk and white eye visible. His red cassock was stained, and large circles of a darker crimson spread across his chest and arms. 

Leo could feel his mouth water at the sight. There was something about the idea of his lover doing something so terrible for him that made him a bit hot under the collar. 

Once he gained control of himself, he stepped out to the aisle. He nearly tripped over the head on the ground before reaching to pick it up. He looked it over, letting his eyes meet Terzo's. He could see the mouth moving, struggling to say something. A warning, perhaps. Leo tried to read his lips to no avail. 

The Cardinal moved in close, dropping his weapon along the way. 

"Cuore mio, are you proud? I did this for us. It is what we must do to ascend. Everything will be yours." He whispered.

His voice sounded unrecognizable. It was as if thousands of souls within him were speaking together at once. The only indicator that he was speaking was that his mouth moved with each syllable. Copia reached out for his fiancé's hand.

Leonardo leaned into the touch and nodded quickly. He tried to speak, to praise the other but couldn't speak. The younger looked up to the Cardinal, worried, wondering why he was still silenced. He squeezed the older man's hand, fighting to get any sound out.

Copia smiled wider and began pointing his finger, urging Leo to look behind him. 

All of the hair on Leonardo's neck suddenly stood. The room became intensely hot. A hazy fog spread along the floor. The shift caused him to drop Papa's head. His eyes followed as it began to roll towards the doors in the rear of the chapel. 

A black hoof raised and came back down to stop the head.

Leo's breaths came in short pants as panic began racing through his chest. He hadn't performed a ritual. He hadn't sacrificed anything. Why was the Dark Lord there? Surely he had done something wrong. Lucifer was busy; he didn't have time to drop in out of the blue. Not even for a clergy member.

Then again, he had always had a talent for contacting Lucifer. The last time He appeared, He convinced Leo to join the ministry. 

The silent Archbishop dropped to his knees where he stood, putting his hands together in prayer.  

"Prohibere." Stop. The Goat spoke. Its mouth did not move. It did not need to. 

Leo's wide brown eyes met the slit eyes of the animal, listening to its commands and stilling.

 He hadn't expected the other to appear as a goat. He had always thought that was more metaphorical than anything. He had been expecting some gorgeous man. Before he could get too lost in thought, Satan was speaking again. 

"Bastardus regnabit." 

The bastard will reign. 

 Leo nodded quickly, agreeing to make it happen, his eyes cast downward. He didn't attempt to ask questions. It was clear Lucifer wasn't exactly in a chatty mood.

When he looked up again, the Goat was gone, and Copia was kneeling in front of him. His body was swarmed in blue, black, and gold papal fabric. His face was white, eyes sockets, cheekbones, and lips all accented with black paint. Leonardo's eyes nearly popped out of his head at the sight.

The Cardinal would become Papa.

The Archbishop thought he was leaning for a kiss, but instead, Copia grabbed him by his shoulders and began shaking him violently.

Leo gasped as his eyes shot open. After looking around, he quickly realized it had all been a dream.

Terzo was giving his Black Mass for the ministry, head attached. The lights were on, and the room smelled of heady incense. Leonardo's eyes finally found the cause of the shaking. Secondo sat beside him in the pew with a smirk as he let his hands fall.

"You're too young to be falling asleep during Mass, Arcivescovo." He teased, studying him for a moment. "Did Papa really bore you that much? Or did planning your engagement party keep you awake all night? "

Leo shook his head, slowly beginning to relax as he realized everything was normal. He let out a little breath as his wits returned to him.

 "Can you blame me? Papa can sing, but he's horrible at sermons." Leo joked, rubbing a hand over his face to fully wake himself up. 

Feeling eyes on him, he looked across the aisle to find Copia staring at him like a worried puppy. The other had always been annoyingly good at reading his emotions. He knew something was up. Leo gave the Cardinal a small thumbs up so he would at least stop staring for now. 

"Come, child, it's time for communion," Secondo whispered next, moving to rise along with the rest of the church. Leonardo tiredly followed, getting up and moving into the line. 

Unsurprisingly his fiancé ended up beside him. "I'm okay," Leo promised quietly, reaching out to squeeze the other's leather-clad hand. 

Copia offered a worried little nod. "Si, si," he replied, knowing they couldn't speak much while slowly inching forward towards Primo and Terzo, who was giving the sacrament.

Leo only let go of Copia's hand when it was his turn to kneel before Papas. There was a glint in Terzo's eyes as he offered the wafer. The Archbishop was worried that the man knew of his dream and quickly sipped his wine before hurrying out of the way. 

He could feel the eyes of the church on him as he shuffled back to his pew.

The Mass, thankfully, wasn't much longer. Of course, it was utterly boring without any more visits from Lucifer or visions of his future husband drenched in blood, but Leo survived. 

Once it ended, Leonardo and Secondo were two of the first people out. Outside of the chapel doors, they stood and joked around. The pair had been too busy recently to catch up, but they took what time they could each Saturday morning.

The two became fast friends as soon as Leo came to the ministry. Many seemed jealous that he was among the few people Secondo got along with. He couldn't help it. They had simply bonded together by partying.

He still secretly hoped Secondo was planning a bachelor party for him.

It took Copia a few minutes to squeeze through the crowd and find them outside. He greeted Secondo with a little bow and an awkward smile before looking over to his fiancé. 

"Are you sure you're okay? You rushed after the sacraments…you never fall asleep during Mass." The Cardinal fussed. He was clearly fighting the urge to reach out and cup Leo's face.

"I promise I'm fine. I didn't sleep well yesterday…but the dream was nice. You were in it."  he replied with a wink, causing the Cardinal to blush.

Secondo laughed at the response before patting his friend's arm and offering a slight head bow. "I'll leave you two to it." He said before waving and heading down the path toward the ministry.

 Perhaps Leo should have been scared of Copia after the intense dream, but he couldn't bring himself to feel that way. He would never be on the opposite end of Copia's rage; seeing the other worry over him reminded him. If he did follow through and hurt Terzo, he would only be following Lucifer's will. Who was Leonardo to deny that?

"Shall we go?" The Cardinal asked, holding a hand out to his partner. The Archbishop rolled his eyes at how sickeningly sweet it was before he took it. 

"Si,"  He replied with a small smile. "Be patient. I will tell you about the dream,"  he promised because he could still feel the other staring at him intently.

"Fine, I will be patient, amore. Just this once."  Copia complained quietly. "Let's get out of here before anyone tries to find us," he said, pulling Leo along quicker across the courtyard.

"You should have brought your tricycle. We could have planned an escape." He teased with a soft laugh as they squeezed their way through the crowd.

It didn't take long for the pair to steal away. After walking around the grounds for a few minutes, they found themselves alone along the side of one of the abbey buildings.

The scent of hyacinths filled the yard, and a slightly cool spring breeze made their cassocks flow somewhat.

Both had busy schedules, but Copia wasn't letting Leo get away. As badly as the older male wanted to know, he was terrible at asking. Copia walked in a small circle, opening and closing his mouth as he tried to figure out what to say. 

"I saw Satanas." Leo finally spoke, tired of seeing his fiancé struggle. He slowly backed Copia against the brick wall so he would stop pacing. "That's why I fell asleep, I think. He wanted to see me," he explained.

Copia froze for a moment, leaning back against the wall. "He doesn't just…visit, Angelo." he tried to argue, processing the possibility.

 "Have you sacrificed anything to him lately? Make any offerings that would have him show up?" 

Leonardo thought about the words for a moment before he shook his head, chewing at his lower lip. "I think he was asking for an offering. Or maybe it was just a warning of what is to come." The brunette explained. 

"What sort of offering?"

Leo gently squeezed Copia's side. He was quiet for a moment,  nervous about speaking more. "You'll think I'm crazy if I tell you, C. I don't want to upset you." he breathed out.

Copia's face fell at the words. He pulled away some, crossing his arms over his chest as if trying to protect himself from bad news. 

"He does not wish us to be wed then, hm? Are you sure you are not getting cold feet?" he asked, assuming entirely incorrectly.

The mix-up led Leo to laugh softly. He quickly moved into Copia's personal space, reaching up to slowly pull his arms away from his body, wanting them wrapped around him instead. "No, no. That is not what he wants, I promise," he assured the other.

Copia still didn't seem entirely convinced. 

Leo leaned up onto his toes to press a warm kiss to the other's lips. "I promise, Satanas still wants us to wed. It wasn't about that,"  he said, reaching up to cup at Copia's cheeks. 

"He was just showing me how we can be powerful together….how we can move up the ranks, so to speak," Leonardo said, searching Copia's face for a moment.   "I will tell you more when the time comes, si? Do not look at me like that. You look like a sad little mouse. I hate it."  

Copia groaned, doing his best to let it go for the moment. He sighed and nodded, returning the gentle kiss. "Fine, but I do not like secrets. Even if He is involved." he gave in, rubbing a hand across Leo's waist. "You just scared me. I could see on your face how freaked out you were, Leo." 

"Would you not be freaked out if a Goat came to speak to you in your dreams? Eh?" The Archbishop replied, pecking him again to distract him. "I don't want you to ever worry that something will come between us, si, Topolino?"  He ranted for a moment, topping it off with a little kiss.

The Cardinal flushed a soft pink at the words, but he quickly returned the peck before he began to nod. "Okie dokie," he replied, squeezing Leo's waist.

"Okie dokie," Leonardo repeated and carefully moved to press his hips against one of Copia's thighs. The Cardinal quickly responded and began pushing his leg up between Leo's.  

"We will never be apart, and if we ever are separated, we will reunite in hell as one," Leo grumbled, continuing to tease his fiance. He nipped at Copia's lower lip as he started to grind down against his thigh.

"Right here?" he asked worriedly, glancing around to ensure they weren't being spied on. The younger didn't give him much time to check before pulling him into a harsher kiss. 

He didn't bother answering the question as their kissing became more passionate. The pair was soon rutting against one another. Leonardo could feel his cheeks flushing as pleasure began to pool deep in his stomach. He reached down to Copia's groin, smirking as he felt how hard the other already was.

It wasn't long before they were panting against one another's lips. They likely would have taken it further had a pair of Sisters not walked by giggling at the couple of them.

 Though it was clear he wanted to linger, Copia took a deep breath and slowly pulled away. A deep blush had settled in under his freckles. "Seestor will murder us if she catches us like this, you know," he said with a forced laugh. 

"You're right. I'll have to wait until after the party to canoodle with you." Leo grinned. He took a deep breath to try and calm himself down. "I hate that we always get interrupted right while I'm on the edge." he began complaining, which caused his fiancé to giggle shyly. 

Copia reached out to fix some of the black paint that smudged on Leo's lower lip. "We will go over the edge later, si?" he asked as he started pulling away. "We must go…we have a long day."  he reminded.

"Right. I am very excited to see you in clothes beside the cassock tonight. It's been a while since I've seen you in a suit, C."  he laughed softly.

Copia flushed at his words before taking Leonardo's hand and lifting it to his lips to kiss his bare knuckles. "Who said I wouldn't be in my cassock?"  he joked before finally offering a little wave and walking away. 

 "Do not work too hard today, Angelo. I expect you on the dance floor all night." He called back.

Leonardo chuckled before turning and heading in the opposite direction. He took a deep breath before heading towards the monastery. There was no better way to celebrate conversing with Lucifer than to torture some of his Bishops.

The cogs were starting to turn in his brain as he thought about how he could boss the junior clergy members around when he slammed into somebody as he rounded the corner. 

Leo apologized profusely before finally looking up to see who he had bumped against. He froze as Terzo grinned.  

"Why are you in such a rush, Fratello? I saw you run out of the chapel just now….embarrassed you fell asleep?" he asked with a wide grin.

"Oh, I was just, um..letting my eyes rest."  He wanted to throw up. He was groaning internally. "Besides, you know I have quite a busy day, Papa. I need to help guide your children and, of course, the engagement-"

"Ah, si si, I heard about our little Cardinal's soiree tonight. How exciting for you both." Papa waved off the conversation. "I'll be there, don't worry." 

Leonardo nodded, forcing a smile on his lips. "Then you know I have a lot to plan for tonight, Papa. Really I should be going," he said, doing his best not to think about how much prettier Terzo looked when his head was rolling down the stairs.  

Papa seemed to notice how he spaced out for a moment, humming. "What is it that is so boring about me today, Arcivescovo? You cannot seem to pay attention to me for more than a moment. I'm becoming offended." he snickered, holding a hand over his chest as he stepped closer.

"I suppose I just have a lot on my mind, Papa. I promise I will tell it all to you in confession." He grinned, bowing some to Teroz, letting his head fall further. "Please, excuse me. I need to lead my little lambs. Your Bishops are a handful." he said, reaching out to squeeze Papa's arm.

Terzo didn't even get a chance to reply before Leo pushed past him to walk down the hall. Usually, the Archbishop was far more careful about how he acted with Papa. He'd be as formal as possible and humor him, but now he felt less of a reason to keep the mask up. 

He wouldn't be Papa for much longer. 

Terzo watched after the Archbishop made his swift escape, grumbling quietly to himself and wondering what the hell was happening. He made a mental note to ask Secondo about it. 

"Asshole." he sighed as he turned back towards the chapel.

—-

Though Leonardo had reassured Copia many times, the man spent the rest of the day wondering what Satan could have to say about him. He had already thought he wasn't worthy of his fiancé's hand in marriage, so he couldn't imagine the Lord saying anything good about their pairing.

Leo was supposed to be a prime mover. He had excellent schooling, was charming, and was good at keeping everyone in check. When they married, there would be no more room for the Archbishop to climb the social ladder. 

The conversation about killing Terzo was so far back in his mind he couldn't even register the possibility it was about that. 

By the time the night came, and Seestor was shooing him out of his office to get ready, Copia was a wreck. He had far too much time to pretend to work while secretly spiraling. 

He began pacing again when he reached his quarters, not keeping great track of the time. He murmured softly, speaking to his pet rats, who all stood at the edge of their cage to watch him curiously. 

"I can't lose him, Rigatoni." Copia frowned over to the smallest one. 

The man was pulled from his thoughts as he heard a loud banging on his door. "Ah, just a minute!" The Cardinal called out, trying to pull himself together before finally pulling the door open. 

"Took you long enough," Leo said, grinning at the slightly taller man. It fell after a moment. "You haven't gotten changed yet…they're starting," he added next, offering his fiancé a confused look. 

Copia groaned and stepped back to let his fiancé in before finally wandering towards the closet. "Mie scuse, I've been so distracted today, Angelo," he muttered as he pulled his red suit out to start getting changed.

Leo followed behind him, briefly greeting the small rodents before sitting on the edge of Copia's bed. "Mi amore, everything is going to be okay-" he was cut off as Copia grumbled to himself while tugging up his tight pants.

"If everything is okay, then tell me what he said." He said pointedly, his voice more serious than Leonardo had ever heard.

The Archbishop watched him with wide eyes before taking a breath. "There is to be a new Papa. Soon….I know we were joking about…" his words began drifting off as he stared at the 'Hang In There' cat poster hanging.

"We kill Terzo. You take his place."  Leonardo finally spits it out.

Copia paused after pulling his shirt on, leaving it unbuttoned for a moment. "Are you making fun of me?" the Cardinal asked, checking.

"I promise I'm not," He replied, letting his brown eyes meet Copia's odd ones.

 "Do you have any idea who your parents are, C?"

[libidomechanica]

Untitled (“The coward does it with the hangman close of”)

A cinquain sequence

               I

Changing to rain. The coward does it with the hangman close of love, all my wooing is done.

               II

Perhaps his horse are doing! They think a murderer’s collar take his last look wanton-wise.

               III

The clocks stopped clock. The moon is bright in Autumn’s sky, and thence full many wanton thru the floor.

               IV

And cleanse his soul from Sin? Truth fails not; but her last word—’Oh. Quickened his step seemed light and Day?

               V

Is shining fronts, their uniforms were still. Whoever in Love’s fire that thou wilt be my ain.

               VI

So that was. Copartner of the sweet, than when flowers: but the only word I understood.

               VII

He that moment’s store five years of blood the whitewashed wall that he had to swing. Good Susan Gale.

               VIII

At the fire? Which Betty will not love’s fingers, and sorrows more than the sun did shine so cold.

               IX

By a doubtful spirit- voice, in that was all. And far, I am happy where you aren’t.

               X

All, or all away. Two lines of wake behind it on the lot of life in a new rhythm.

               XI

Hither the least one thieving thoughts will enter, healthy as tragedy. But she could them vphold.

               XII

With the autumn weather compelled my imaginary. Sing lullaby. And cleansed the Ground.

               XIII

Come bring young charms, which needes both use and art. Make accompt, unless your laughter, that I love.

               XIV

I wanna be your dreams to shame. Even the feature is a fresh and love comes back again.

               XV

I was passed in happy freedom by. Do thee shame, nor avarice, nor over- anxious care.

               XVI

With the Wound of our own mouths calling, Oh. Like two doomed ships that passed in happy freedom by.

               XVII

In happy freedom by.— Thus answered Johnny in his pocket bring it home.—Oh God forbid!

               XVIII

I never shed before eleven. Some faire booke doth find, with gilded girl who’s always was.

               XIX

She sits, between a bag of almost-stale croissants clenched in your hair. And around us lie?

               XX

Sun and moon builds its tower sisyphean project like a bee. Cry, Speak once more— thou lovest!

               XXI

If charmed verse or muttered prayers had power, with the windy sigh: the man had killed the door.

               XXII

The wind blows the rain.—As it were the dead. Her look out-flourish’d May: and having buried day.

               XXIII

Good of the swollen purple throat may think, the rein to give? My soul with sails of silver by.

               XXIV

They soundly slept the vow? Me—toll the silver by. Sought, a dream remember: the little girl?

               XXV

Does Man touch with grief they are, emblems mix with words that cruel father! Proving what I can give?

               XXVI

My life melts with too much thinking; thinke no more. The Shepherds as to Kings. He went back to look.

               XXVII

With sudden shock the prisoners’ cots and we have built our wall. Such valid reason no one there.

               XXVIII

It chanced your name to see. She’d seen the bed to what it touches. Says Betty, he’ll be spice.

               XXIX

And all that heard her cry, and the lampless Earth in which her idiot boy. Upon the air!

               XXX

And this sweet breath more sweet; but I never bleach. To join the living thing, of Johnny’s glory.

              ��XXXI

With open mouth he drank the sunlight not fooles in my own. Say thou dost love Truth and me.

               XXXII

I want to grow old and grey. The down, and should be, like life and fear, a dark reality.

               XXXIII

Like the Body and that he had quit, and through the wood. And the meadows in which were unjust.

               XXXIV

Is my Mother’s pocketbook. And, grumbling, cold, in thine armes, if learnd fame truth so foul a lie!

               XXXV

The first sight, as she wrought! Ah foolish tear, unlink’d with me. For the mountains high; such thy bloom!

               XXXVI

She hardly spare, unworthy things of Dove, a maid whom there was a theft. To thee, Cynara!

               XXXVII

I’ll tell me, Love within a mile, no hand to write in the dark. And under the mother’s face.

               XXXVIII

No more I know, I wish is understand. Haste, precious friend, and I sigh one another kiss.

               XXXIX

Stella, I say my Stella, should do long. If he is hurt in life or limb—oh God forbid!

               XL

Sometimes these cogitations still as a bar of iron. And Johnny do, I pray you do.

               XLI

And wondered why men knelt to pray who never will be out of prison walls suddenly seemed.

[orthodoxydaily]

Saints&Reading: Thursday, June 13, 2024

may 31_june 13

The Ascension of our Lord.

Troparion of the Ascension (tone IV) : O Christ God, Thou didst ascend in glory, O Christ our God, having gladdened Thy disciples by the promise of the Holy Spirit. And this blessing convinced them that Thou art the Son of God, the Redeemer of the world!

Kontakion, (tone VI)

Having accomplished for us Thy mission and united things on earth with things in heaven, thou didst ascend into glory, O christ our God, being nowhere separated from those who love Thee, but remaining everpresent with us and calling: I am with you and no one is against you.

HOLY GEORGIAN MARTYRS OF PERSIA (17th-18thC) c.)

  Throughout history Georgia has frequently been forced to defend what St. Ilia the Righteous called its “threefold treasure”— language, fatherland, and Faith. In this regard, the events of the 17th century are some of the most tragic in all of Georgian history.       In 1616 the bloodthirsty Persian ruler Shah Abbas I invaded Georgia with a massive army. His goal was to level the country completely, to leave not a single building standing. The shah’s army kidnapped hundreds of thousands of Kakhetian Georgians and then sent them to Persia to be sold as slaves. They settled Turkmen in the newly depopulated Georgian regions. In collaboration with the shah, many Lezgin peoples from the mountainous North Caucasus moved south to occupy the homes of the exiled Georgians.       The 17th-century Italian traveler Pietro della Valle described the Georgian exile in Persia: “It would be too long to narrate all that has passed in this miserable migration, how many murders, how many deaths caused by privation, how many seductions, rapes, and acts of violence, how many children drowned by their own parents or cast into rivers through despair, some snatched by force from their mother’s breasts because they seemed too weak to live and thrown down by the wayside and abandoned there to be food for wild beasts or trampled underfoot by the horses and camels of the army, which marched for a whole day on top of dead bodies; how many sons separated from their fathers, wives from their husbands, sisters from their brothers, and carried off to distant countries without hope of ever meeting again. Throughout the camp, men and women were sold on this occasion much cheaper than beasts, because of the great number of them.” (Quoted in David Marshall Lang, Lives and Legends of the Georgian Church (London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1956), p. 170.)       The Georgian exiles in Persia included a large number of clergy. Many of them celebrated the divine services in secret and inspired the people to remain faithful to God. Those discovered were punished severely. Many Georgians were martyred for the Christian Faith during the Persian exile. Not only Georgian researchers, but historians and travelers of other nationalities attest to the truth of this. Furthermore, ethnic Georgians currently residing in formerly Persian territories continue to commemorate their fallen ancestors to this day. They make pilgrimages to the sites where their ancestors were martyred and prepare feasts there in honor of their memory. One of these sites has been called “Ascension.”       Of language, fatherland, and Faith, only language remains alive among Georgians in the formerly Persian territories. Most have lost touch with both their fatherland and the Christian Faith. Those fortunate enough to be able to return to Georgia often convert to Orthodox Christianity. In 2001, when Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II visited the ethnic Georgians in Iran, he presented them with a mound of Georgian soil. With great emotion the Georgians scattered the soil over the ground where their ancestors were martyred.       On September 18, 2003, the Holy Synod of the Georgian Orthodox Church prayerfully considered the martyric contest of the Georgians in Persia. The Synod declared all those martyred at the hands of Muslims in the 17th and 18th centuries worthy to be numbered among the saints. Their commemoration day was set on the feast of Holy Ascension, in honor of the place where many of them were martyred.

© 2006 St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood.

MARTYR HERMIAS at COMANA (160)

Icon: AgioErgo on Etsy

Holy Martyr Hermias suffered for Christ in the city of Comana during the persecution under the emperor Antoninus Pius (138-161). The governor Sebastian, who was in Cappadocia to arrest Christians, urged the saint to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods, promising him honors and mercy from the emperor.

The old soldier bravely confessed his faith in Christ. After long exhortation, the governor gave orders to torture the saint. They beat him on the face so that the skin peeled from his face, and they threw him into a red-hot oven. When the oven was opened after three days, the martyr Hermias emerged from it unharmed.

The governor Sebastian ordered the sorcerer Marus to poison Saint Hermias with a potion. The poisonous drink did the saint no harm. A second goblet with even stronger poison also failed to kill the saint. The sorcerer believed in Christ the Savior, and was immediately beheaded. Saint Marus was baptized in his own blood, and received a martyr’s crown.

Saint Hermias was subjected to even more terrible tortures. They raked his body with sharp instruments, threw him in boiling oil, and gouged out his eyes, but he gave thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ. Then they suspended the martyr head downward. For three days he hung in this position.

People sent by the governor to verify his death found him alive. Struck by the miracle, they were blinded with fright and began to call out to the saint to help them. The holy martyr ordered the blind to approach him, and healed them in the Name of Jesus Christ.

In anger the governor ordered the skin flayed from the saint’s body, but he remained alive. Then the crazed Sebastian beheaded him with his own sword. Christians secretly buried the body of the martyr Hermias, whose relics bestowed numerous healings.

Source: Orthodox Church in America_OCA

ACTS 1:1-12

1 The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 2 until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, 3 to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. 4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. 6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" 7 And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. 9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 11 who also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven." 12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey.

LUKE 24:36-53

36 Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, "Peace to you." 37 But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. 38 And He said to them, "Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have. 40 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. 41 But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, "Have you any food here?" 42 So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. 43 And He took it and ate in their presence. 44 Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me." 45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. 46 Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 And you are witnesses of these things. 49 Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high. 50 And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. 51 Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. 52 And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen.

[metalindex-hu]

Reminitions – Chamber of Flesh – Új dal

Reminitions – Chamber of Flesh – Új dal - https://metalindex.hu/2023/12/27/reminitions-chamber-of-flesh-uj-dal/ -

A kaliforniai deathcore banda, a Reminitions a napokban mutatta be Chamber of Flesh dalának szöveges videóját. A dalban Taylor Barber (Left to Suffer) vokálozik. A zenekar dalának megjelenésével egyidőben bejelentette, hogy 2024. január 22-én a Blood Blast Distributionon keresztül kiadja Misery Eternal Pt. I című első albumának öt dalt tartalmazó első felét.

Reminitions – Misery Eternal Pt. I

(Blood Blast Distributionon)

1. Chamber Of Flesh Ft. Taylor Barber Of Left To Suffer

2. Bad Blood Ii Ft. Tyler Miller Of Thy Art Is Murder

3. Clout Chaser Ft. Travis Worland Of Enterprise Earth

4. The Red Door

5. The Weight Of Loss

[nityarawal]

10/14/2023

Morning Songs

Every Religion

Says Love Thy Brother 

Is This Peace On Earth

Every Religion Says

Thou Shall Not Kill

Is This Heaven On

Earth

Did Your Attys

Get What They Want

Domestic Terrorism

In Israel

Gaslighting

Sibling Rivalry

Like 9/11 

Peeps Comment

In The Middle East

Jews Got $3.8 Billion

Annually

Since World War II

You See

Is It Not Enough

Compared

To Iran's First

Pay Out

$6 Billion

On Much Needed

Reparations

45 Years Later

Attys Kids

Gotta Write Mommy

Murder Endings

Better

For How I Met Your

Mother

And Me

Cancer

Was It Poisoning

Was It A Basement 

Tick

Left From World War II

Nazi's

Handymen

Was It Lymes

That Killed Your Mother

Will We Ever Know

What Is True

11 Labs Done This

Month

Hundreds Over Seven Years

Pulling Probing

My Psyche

My Veins

Cathertising Me

With Crud

For IEHP

Kickbacks

Not Just Rockets

Tell Us What Did You

Learn

From My Prototype

Did You Learn

How To Be Kind

To A Princess In Need

Did You Offer Her

A Little Love And Peace

But If She Agreed

To A Date

She Was Caged

Black And Blue Bleeding

Where Were My

Sympathy Cards

Beat On The Head

In The ICU

Where Were My

Sympathy Cards

Did You Not Care

What Attorneys Did

To Realtors

Where Were My

Sympathy Cards

8 Times I Was

Kidnapped Raped

Hospitalized 

Fundraising

Scared

Where Were My

Sympathy Cards

That Is Not The 

Kind Of Shabbat

Or Conversation

I Had In Mind

Where's My Sympathy

Flowers

Ditched At The Alter

For Plan B

Where's My Sympathy

Flowers

DLF

Ringo Always Said

Love And Peace

A Quarter Persian

Can We Still Be Friends

Knights

Despite Old Wars

Triangulating Us

My Family Terrorised

For Almost 45 Years

1979 Revolution

But I'm Only

Quarter Persian

Not Iranian

Never Been

I Sold Your Art

Faithfully

Lost My Marriage

Meanwhile

Kept Working

Smeared By Your 

Hustler

Who Didn't Like Me

Dancing With

Another

Jessica Michelle Alluded

Disruptive Marketing

Hipster Ballerina

Yogini

Is That The Story

We're Always Gonna

Hear

James Bond

Sue Bond

Wouldn't Go 

To Three Of Your Concerts

Or Dance

I Earned

"I Wanna Be

Your Man,"

With Me

Instead You Waved

Love And Peace

Melted My Heart

Like Elvis

Poodles

James Bond

Put His Foot Down

Said No

Apartheid 

To T.M. Slavery

I Didn't Know

He Told Me

They Worked Him

24/7

To The Bone

In 1999

They Hired Him

To Build World's Tallest

Building

Slummed Him

On A Dime

They Worked Him

Alright

Indians On Coke

In Vlodrop

Apartheid Slavery

Tech

Monarchy

Caste System

Phd

We Started Out

On $300 you Know

They Stole Everything

Judge Benny Waggoner

CFO Jonathan Masters

Bruce Hauptman

Our Boss

On First

Iowa California

Start Up

In Old West

Pimped To The Honor's

Step Daughters'

Trusty Nannies

Baby Lolita's

Stories

Is That What Josh

Is Doing Now Too

She Was Only 17

Young Enough

To Incriminate Me

You Say

She Was Only 17

Well My Daughter's

13

And I'd Hoped

You'd Gather Strength

And Be A Knight

To Get Her Out

Of This Apartheid

Love And Peace

Is It Just Talk

Mother Divine

Or Is Your Life

Not Your Own

Mother Divine

Just Words

Can't You Walk

Your Talk For Me

"Fleishman Is Missing,"

He's Not Even On

First Episode

Can't You Walk 

Your Talk For The

Lord

Don't Hurt Your

Brothers

"Hunters," On Prime

Or Sisters' Friend

Did You Not Learn

In Jewish Bible School

Don't Hurt Your Sisters

Friend

Domino Effect

Civil War

Karma Not Good

Don't Hurt Our Children

Friends'

World's Tumbling

Down

No Human Shields

Left

Peace My Lord

Peace

Pow Wow

Now

Please

Peace

Peace,

Nitya Nella Azam Davigo Moezzi Huntley Rawal 

[bookoformon]

Mosiah Chapter 17. "The Rebirth of a New Nation."

Alma believes and writes the words of Abinadi—Abinadi suffers death by fire—He prophesies disease and death by fire upon his murderers. About 148 B.C.

1 And now it came to pass that when Abinadi had finished these sayings, that the king commanded that the priests should take him and cause that he should be put to death.

2 But there was one among them whose name was Alma, he also being a descendant of Nephi. And he was a young man, and he believed the words which Abinadi had spoken, for he knew concerning the iniquity which Abinadi had testified against them; therefore he began to plead with the king that he would not be angry with Abinadi, but suffer that he might depart in peace.

Alma, in Hebrew means "young with the potential to become an entire nation." He represent the future of America, once put to proper purposes:

עלם II

The unused and assumed root עלם ('lm II), which yields the masculine derivation עלם ('elem), meaning a [male] youth. 

The female equivalent of this noun, עלמה ('alma), a [female] youth, occurs slightly more often, but still not often enough to describe mere youth (the more common word for young woman is בתולה, betula) and thus probably rather emphasizes a girl's potential to become an entire nation (or two; Genesis 25:23).

3 But the king was more wroth, and caused that Alma should be cast out from among them, and sent his servants after him that they might slay him.

4 But he fled from before them and hid himself that they found him not. And he being concealed for many days did write all the words which Abinadi had spoken.

5 And it came to pass that the king caused that his guards should surround Abinadi and take him; and they bound him and cast him into prison.

6 And after three days, having counseled with his priests, he caused that he should again be brought before him.

7 And he said unto him: Abinadi, we have found an accusation against thee, and thou art worthy of death.

8 For thou hast said that God himself should come down among the children of men; and now, for this cause thou shalt be put to death unless thou wilt recall all the words which thou hast spoken evil concerning me and my people.

9 Now Abinadi said unto him: I say unto you, I will not recall the words which I have spoken unto you concerning this people, for they are true; and that ye may know of their surety I have suffered myself that I have fallen into your hands.

10 Yea, and I will suffer even until death, and I will not recall my words, and they shall stand as a testimony against you. And if ye slay me ye will shed innocent blood, and this shall also stand as a testimony against you at the last day.

11 And now king Noah was about to release him, for he feared his word; for he feared that the judgments of God would come upon him.

12 But the priests lifted up their voices against him, and began to accuse him, saying: He has reviled the king. Therefore the king was stirred up in anger against him, and he delivered him up that he might be slain.

13 And it came to pass that they took him and bound him, and scourged his skin with faggots, yea, even unto death.

14 And now when the flames began to scorch him, he cried unto them, saying:

15 Behold, even as ye have done unto me, so shall it come to pass that thy seed shall cause that many shall suffer the pains that I do suffer, even the pains of death by fire; and this because they believe in the salvation of the Lord their God.

16 And it will come to pass that ye shall be afflicted with all manner of diseases because of your iniquities.

17 Yea, and ye shall be smitten on every hand, and shall be driven and scattered to and fro, even as a wild flock is driven by wild and ferocious beasts.

18 And in that day ye shall be hunted, and ye shall be taken by the hand of your enemies, and then ye shall suffer, as I suffer, the pains of death by fire.

19 Thus God executeth vengeance upon those that destroy his people. O God, receive my soul.

20 And now, when Abinadi had said these words, he fell, having suffered death by fire; yea, having been put to death because he would not deny the commandments of God, having sealed the truth of his words by his death.

We are introduced to Alma, a prophet of superior power and Abinadi leaves us, scourged to death by the evil king Noah who unlike his counterpart in the Torah takes mankind down into the ravine instead up the slopes of the Mount.

Abinadi slandered the king saying God will incarnate in the flesh and replace him, and the laws of which men were falling short were going to be enforced and was put to death for it.

Alma who agrees with Abinadi and is chased into the forest by assassins.

All of this takes place after three days of deliberation in Noah's court.

By the Third Day, all violence within a man is supposed to be wrung out of him through the study of the Torah as he is growing up. As a man ages, the Third Day which represents beaching is the moment the old tendency ebbs and the new one takes hold.

In the Book of Mormon, the old tendency was Abinadi, "the Supreme Jewel Setting" and the new one is Alma, "the hidden potential in the nation."

The disobedent and deviant king was not responding to Abinadi on the Third Day, puts him in the fire. King Noah, a murderer, followed the Seven Days of Cremation instead of the Seven Days of Creation.

When this happens, when a head of state reviles the law and starts to devolve its culture in counter revolution to the Will of God, a new prophet must rise up and insist on a Day One, which is what Alma does.

[bl0ssom-skies]

Alone at the edge of a universe humming a tune

For merely dreaming we were snow

A siren sounds like the goddess who promises endless apologies of paradise

And only she can make it right

So things are different tonight

We'll go together in flight

It's now and never

A reverie endeavor

Awaits somnambulant directives

To take the helm

Believe me, darling

The stars were made for falling

Like melting obelisks

As tall as another realm

Un ensemble d'enfants

La galaxie s'étend

Jardin de l'imagination

Combler la lacune

Voler face à la lune

Vois comme nous évoluons

It feels like flying

But maybe we're dying

A cosmic confluence of

Pyramids hologrammed

She knows you heard her

Staging music murder

Inline before the show began

To be where I am

(Children born of one emotion

Our devotion's deepest ocean

No division reasoned we'll be

Free)

To know

We are beyond a bow

And lo, the hues arrange to show

It's perfectly clear

You look quite divine tonight

Here among these vibrant lights

Pure delights surround us as we sail

Signed, yours truly, the whale

Joy mirage's kingdom come

No one left at stake

Now that existence is on the wake

Let's see what we can make

The part is wholly ending

A line in any final song

So long, so far

We will be atoning

At last eternal through the past

Above a blinding star

Bye, Hi

Sigh, Hawaii

We never meant to part

Sublime, thy art

One light

Higher than the sun

Invisible to some

Until it's time

I FUCKING LOVE MIRACLE MUSICAL

HAWAI PART II MY BELOVED GRAAAAHHHHH

There's a still tension in the swell

Of dreamt debris afloat amidst the waves and then dispel

Aimless thoughts and papers blown around

A million moments meant remembered rest in deep dark sound

Game the mess

I'd like to know why you are all alone while I'm lost at sea

Maybe we'll be there when you want

Anchorless and unmoored set amiss

Awake would only prove the fantasy made lucid sense

Sail on, sail on

I'd like to know why you are all alone while I'm lost at sea

Maybe we'll be there when you want

There's a still tension in the swell

So given to the vast receiving emptiness of time

Beyond, beyond

I'd like to know why you are all alone while I

You're unsure if I am

A loose end or a strand

That waits for you to mend or understand

(Honestly, every time I listen to this song, I think of Choco and Bittersweet AND IDK WHY WAAA)

[ghostcultmagazine]

#RIPAngeloBadalmenti #RIPJetBlackofTheStranglers #RIPKImSimmonds Help Ghost Cult Replace Our Broken Gear, Destroyed in An Accident: https://ift.tt/uHP0W39 NEW AFFILIATE PARTNER! @vidIQ to help you improve your YouTube Performance! https://ift.tt/gkeDuHJ HiBNB 420 Safe Accomodations, experiences, and cannabis delivery: https://ift.tt/RPEzpQO Check out our weekly news show! 📰 We cover the major stories of the week in heavy music, rock, and metal news, tour dates, and festivals, New Music Friday, and more! Hosted, written, and co-produced Keefy (https://ift.tt/dUIovY8). Co-produced and Edited by Omar Cordy (https://www.instagram.com/ojcpics​​). New Music Friday narration by Keefy. Theme song by Salted Wounds (https://www.instagram.com/saltedwoundsnyc​). Fight riff by Fahad Syed (https://www.instagram.com/fahanzi​​). Time for your weekly dose of Rock and Metal news! Catch up on what you missed this week in the world of Rock and Metal news with our show! #musicnews #rocknews #metalnews #interviews #newmusicfriday #vinylcollector #metalmerch #musicnews #metalnews #rocknews https://youtu.be/b-Xq6GSKtgE Taipei Houston, Bad Rescue, Leather Leone, Top 50 Death Metal Records, Album of the Year 2022, Festival news, Hellfest, Bloodstock Open Air, Slipknot Italy, Slipknot Japan, Welcome To Rockville, Inferno Festival, Inkcarceration Festival, Blue Ridge Rock Festival, Radar Festival UK, Rock Fest Wisconsin adds Pantera, HiBNB, VIDIQ, Metallica's AWMH Charity show, Chimaira returns for shows, Left to Die (ex-Death), Born of Osiris - Reaping Asmodia, and Bystander, Cold - Year of the Spider 20 tour, KISS final UK shows, Enslaved + Insomnium co-headline tour, The Callous Daoboys + D.R.U.G.S., Suffocation - Chelsea Grin - BOO UK tour, Haken & Arch Echo, Underoatgh - periphery % Loathe, Khemmis - Conjurer and Wake to tour, Rotting Christ - Carach Angren- Uada - Gaerea tour, Thy Art is Murder 10 Years of Hate show, Ne Obliviscaris - Beyond Creation and Persefone tour, Tim Commerford of RATM cancer news, Bandcamp Fridays return in 2023, Silent Civilian Roars back, Grief Symposium new track and album incoming, The White Buffalo on Jimmy Kimmel, Rotting Christ digital EP, Ghost's new lyric video for "Mary On A Cross," Nuclear Blast resigns HammerFall, Children of Bodom new live album coming soon, Cloudkicker new remix, Entheos does a Christmas classic, John Joseph of Bloodclot in the farewell Trevor Noah Daily Show, The Acacia Strain new single and tour, and in our Mailbag - a Rob Halford of Judas Priest Funko Pop! Features: Taipei Houston: https://youtu.be/VsyQRQipt5E Bad Rescue: https://youtu.be/EWZPnZDeVaE Ghost Cult Holiday gift guide https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bl7Fd9uRbyk&feature=youtu.be Album of the Year Countdown https://youtu.be/uGwGY7jPU3k SPONSORED POST - @phenyxproofficial3997 PTU-2U True Diversity Wireless Microphone system unboxing and review https://youtu.be/mtpLudLSlwE Glacially Musical pouredcast KISS episode 2 https://ift.tt/lvEQcz9 Check out Keefy on the @CSquaredMm2 Music Podcast: https://youtu.be/LAWqqK-lTQE Gear we use: - ***These are affiliate links and Ghost Cult makes a small commission on every sale. Set up A: Sony A7 III - https://amzn.to/3tQm422 Tamron 17-28 - https://amzn.to/3ePrlTd Tamron 28-75 - https://amzn.to/3fqCjgY Desview Mavo-P5 Monitor- https://amzn.to/33LlTub Manfrotto Befree Travel Tripod - https://amzn.to/3hxbL0e Lighting: YONGNUO YN600L - https://amzn.to/2QkNrn5 YONGNUO YN300 Air - https://amzn.to/2QjN5gu Dfuse Softbox - https://amzn.to/3uQq4AN Aputure MC - https://amzn.to/3oirFgx NanLite PavoTube II 6C - http://bit.ly/NanLitePavoTubeII Light Stands - https://amzn.to/3uSBl3x 5 in 1 Reflector - https://amzn.to/33KHdjo And our iconic Rope Light https://amzn.to/3ycdmyz For the full list of Ghost Cult gear: http://bit.ly/OJCPicsKit

[the-ipre]

skywalker men and the divine right of kings

[id: five quotes from Shakespeare’s Richard II paired with images from Star Wars. The first quote reads “I live with bread like you, feel want,/Taste grief, need friends. Subjected thus,/How can you say to me I am a king?” The next picture shows Anakin, with the caption “(Padme) ‘To be angry is to be human.’ (Anakin) ‘I’m a Jedi. I know I’m better than this.’” The second quote reads “[Duchess of Gloucester] Finds brotherhood in thee no sharper spur?/Hath love in thy old blood no living fire?/Edward’s seven sons, whereof thyself art one,/Were as seven vials of his sacred blood,/Or seven fair branches springing from one root” above a gif of Luke saying “The Force is strong in my family.” The third quote reads “Not all the water in the rough rude sea/Can wash the balm from an anointed king./The breath of worldly men cannot depose/The deputy elected by the Lord” above a gif of Luke saying “I am a Jedi...like my father before me.” The fourth quote reads “All murdered. For within the hollow crown/That rounds the mortal temples of a king/Keeps Death his court, and there the antic sits”, followed by a picture of Kylo Ren sitting before the burnt Darth Vader mask. The fifth quote reads “For heaven’s sake let us sit upon the ground/And tell sad stories of the death of kings:/How some have been deposed, some slain in war,/Some haunted by the ghosts they have deposed” above a gif of Luke standing in front of his father’s funeral pyre. /end id]

[jungcity]

bane of the devil. | ii

genre: vampire!jaehyun

pairings: jaehyun x female reader

important note: the au’s i write for nct members do not, in any way, reflect them in real life. they are only my muses for my writing and an addition to enliven my fictions! ♡

“father, i must confess

i tasted the devil,

orison in my lips

with blood on his teeth,

how could he taste like

honeysuckle,

the bitter tang of revulsion,

and the carnage of war?

father, i kissed the devil

even if i should not

will you punish me

now that i see burnish gold

in his hands

instead of blood?”

— bane of the devil // ii

A nervous chuckle broke free out of your mouth by the mention of the word ‘vampire’. Agitation filled your whole body; your fingers started to shake, your heart beating in frenetic patterns inside your chest. Jaehyun laid still, all bloodied and nearly unconscious on the sofa.

“Are you crazy?” You managed to croak, the tightness in your throat making it hard for you to speak.

Perhaps the pain of his laceration made him delusional. Perhaps Johnny told him about the death of your parents. Perhaps he knows about your obsession towards vampires. Perhaps, perhaps—

“A little bit out of my mind, yes.” His chest and shoulders vibrated by the toneless chuckle his mouth released. “Crazy? No.” Jaehyun’s eyes were still closed, but a playful smile was displayed on his lips. You have no idea how could he smile despite of his situation. He must be really deranged.

“You must be in so much pain,” you sympathized. A single paper cut hurts like hell, what more when it’s a long gash in your stomach? The mere thought was enough to make you recoil in your seat. So, you tried not to dwell in Jaehyun’s pain as you continued to sew his skin back together.

“I don’t feel anything at all.” Then he sat up from the sofa and brought his forefinger to the wound. He pressed his finger down on the incision, causing his blood to gush down his jeans.

You slapped his hand away, while he chuckles as if he enjoys seeing his blood. “What the hell?!”

“See?” he sighed before leaning back on the sofa. Sinister as it was, you have decided to just ignore his remarks and focus on the needle and thread instead. But Jaehyun seemed to be having the time of his life as he pushed on yet another statement, “How I wish I could drink my own blood.”

Bony faces, sunken cheeks, withered bodies— those were what was left of your parents’ once healthy features when you saw them lying on the metal beds in the morgue, their eyes lifeless. The same image went crashing back in your mind as you heard Jaehyun’s utterance. As much as you wanted to lash out on him for being insensitive, you could not bring yourself to now that you weren’t sure whether Johnny really told him about your mother and father’s demise.

“I don’t mean to offend, but…” your teeth twiddled with your bottom lip, Jaehyun silent beside you, “Are you… mentally ill or something?”

It’s impolite to pry. But if you would sleep in a roof with a man who nonchalantly brushes off his injuries like it was just a small scratch and not a long gash, you’ve guessed you needed to know how to walk the attenuated thread that seems to bind his sanity together. You trust you brother— despite him selling your apartment without having a word with you— you’ve met some of his friends before, and you still believe that Jaehyun is not a bad person. And that you hadn’t been wrong to allow him inside the house.

“I am not,” he finally answered after minutes of being lost for words.

“Then why did you tell me that you’re a vampire?”

“Because I am.”

There was a certain rise of intonation in his words that you have a difficulty distinguishing if it was a question or a statement.

“Did Johnny order you to do this? To scare me by standing bloodied in my doorway, and to frighten me more by saying you are a vampire? Because it’s not funny.” You slammed the lid of the sewing kit shut, breathing heavily while looking at Jaehyun. Your fingers imprinted the lid with blood.

His infamous smirk was plastered on his face in a blink, displaying his dimples. He gripped the arm of the sofa then sat up, his eyes boring into yours. “First, no one orders me around. Secondly, I don’t know shit about what you’ve just said. And yes, I think you really need to be frightened because I really am a blood-sucking bastard.”

Jaehyun bared his teeth, his two fangs elongating— Before. Your. Very. Eyes. The ravaging of your heart inside your chest was unbearable. The widening of your eyes would have been enough to let your eyeballs roll off your eye sockets.

Are you going to die now? Are you going to die just like your mother and father; lifeless eyes, wasted body? Mom and Dad. They died in such a terrible way. A cruel death for two loving souls. And they were killed by a vampire— like the monster in front of you. You grabbed the sewing kit— it’s stupid, it’s hopeless but you need to stay alive— and slammed it into Jaehyun’s face.

His face turned sideways by the impact. If a different person would put his shoes on yours right now, the person would surely collapse because of fear. But you’ve anticipated this all your life— this is your purpose. To meet a vampire, to kill a vampire. However, you are still just a person; petrified of the undead.

Breathing ragged with your heart nearly collapsing, you ran for the kitchen and rummage through the drawers to find a vinegar. Before you could sprint away from him, you need to at least injure him first. The rosary standing near the altar behind the television waved at you, you grabbed it until the cross dug in your palm.

With a vinegar in one hand, and a rosary in the other, you dashed back to the living room. Where Jaehyun sat as if he was on a vacation. His arms were laying stretched out on the head of the sofa, his eyes observing you with deviltry in them.

“Begone! You monster!” You opened the lid and threw him the vinegar, the liquid splashing on his body, on the floors and some on your own shoes. The smell of it whiffing your nose, making it itch. It would scorch Jaehyun, that’s for certain.

With the rosary raised by your hand, you shut your eyes and started chanting prayers. “Our Father, Who art in heaven, Holy be Thy Name, Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on Earth—”

Then a howl. You opened your eyes and saw Jaehyun lying on the floor, he was in a fetal position while screaming. You did it! Without waiting for him to recover, you grabbed your phone and ran for the door. As you gripped the doorknob, the howl of pain echoing around the room was replaced by howls of laughters.

Jaehyun is laughing.

You turned around with narrowed brows. He was kneeling on the floors now, clutching his stomach while laughing. His shoulders continued to vibrate, his laughs enveloping the whole space.

“Why—? How?” was your breathless question.

“Damn, that was hilarious.” Then he slowly got up on his feet, a low laugh escaping from his lips even now. He took a step towards you, while you backed away from him.

His hands was raised in shoulder length in an instant, “Whoa. I’m not going to bite you,” he chuckled, then he raised a brow, “not unless you want me to.”

Every young adult romance books who has a cocky man as their main character had that line in one of their pages at least. It was enough to make you cringe just reading it in a book, but to be told the same thing in real life was like a dirt you could not wash off your body.

“Why… why aren’t you scathed?” You observe his body from head to toe, not a trace of scorched skin could be seen in his pale features. “Are you just fucking around?” An infinitesimal dismay bubbled up in your heart by the realization. You could have killed him, you could have taken vengeance for the death of your parents. Could you, truly? If you weren’t even sure about your theories, if you do not even have any idea about the face of their murderer?

“I am a vampire, babygirl.” He continued to advance to you, until your back was against the plain walls of your house, with Jaehyun’s one hand pressed to the walls beside your head. “So you better pack and move out tomorrow before I suck all the blood from your body.”

This close, you could see his lashes fanning his cheeks. They haven’t mistaken when they wrote vampires as terrifying yet beautiful creatures. Jaehyun is stunning.  All the papers plastered on your blackboard slowly came to life through him. You have primed yourself for this day, yet the weak side of being human ate you up as you stood unmoving, eyes focused on Jaehyun and Jaehyun’s face only. They were right when they said vampires were mesmerizing.

You could not move a muscle to defend yourself. With a heavy heart, you braced yourself for your end.  

“Hatred. So much hatred.” Jaehyun sniffed at you, you blinked. What is he doing? “Your blood would taste bitter on my tongue,” he stated, breath fanning your face. It smelled like cigarette, cigarette and mint. “You are so full of hate. Why?”

Then he took a step back, before running his hand through his hair. “Go.” His playful façade was back when he looked at you as if he’s going to pounce on you anytime sooner. “Lock your doors and don’t leave. Johnny told me to keep you safe, so don’t try to run. Because I will know.”

You should bolt out of the house and away from him, it’s preposterous if you won’t. Staying and sleeping in your bed should be out of the choices.

Where else would you go, though? Haechan’s? The little devil would surely squeeze the reasons out of you if ever you decide to stay the night in his house. Mark’s? He’s living with his own. He’d surely feel flustered by the thought of you sleeping in the same roof as him.

Jaehyun made it clear he would know if you do something as to try to leave the house, you do not doubt him one bit. On the other side of things, this is your chance to put your life out of misery: the misery that was inflicted by the murder of your parents.

Sometimes, we have to be a little bit crazy to accomplish something right? We have to be out of our minds to push our boundaries and ignite the bravery in our hearts.

Tonight, you’ve decided to be insane.

Tonight, you will stay.

—

A single dagger lay quietly on your bed. You sat, your legs crossed with each other as you stare at it with pure concentration. The blade reflecting your face in a blurred image. You bought it online years ago, and was hidden underneath your dresser ever since it has arrived. The design was remarkably artistic; a snake head as its pommel and hilt, and instead of a silver blade, it was onyx black.

Grief. It was the reason why you bought it in the first place. Of course, it was Johnny’s name you wrote in the information so you could buy the dagger. The grief and the yearning to find a vampire was what fueled your determined little spirit, resulting in you,  breaking the rules.

Jaehyun’s elongated fangs flashed in your sight as you stare at the dagger. Is he really a vampire? But the vinegar had no effect to his skin, not even the rosary or the prayers. Yet the fangs. How could he make those fangs longer? Perhaps he couldn’t. Perhaps it’s your disconcertment playing tricks on you.

You let your body fall into the mattress. It was like a hearkened prayer. A vampire showing in your doorstep when you least expect it. Was it why he does not appeared to be breathing? Or hurt by his wound and the sewing you’ve done to his skin? Perhaps he’s high, intoxicated, you have no idea. But you believed that even drugs would not obliterate the painful effect of your stomach being slashed open.  

If he’s truly a vampire, why didn’t he use his powers to heal himself? Being undead, and the blood they consumes from humans or animals makes it easier for them to recover from any wound. A gash like that in Jaehyun’s stomach would only compare to a small knife cut or to nothing at all.

There’s only one way to know. No, there are many ways to know the truth, you realized as you glanced at the full body mirror resting near your closet. Vampires can not cast shadows nor reflections. Especially when the mirror is backed with silver.

You pulled the chair, drafting table, and your little drawer away from behind the door. It was a horrendous idea to lock your door with your furnitures, only to pull them back again. Safety first, though.

What if he’s truly a vampire? The question drew you in a sudden halt, your hand frozen onto the doorknob. Then you realized that you have not prepared yourself to meet a real vampire after all. Concocting everything in your mind was easier because it hasn’t occurred to you— not even in your wildest imaginations— that you’d see a vampire today. In the modern world and years after the death of your parents.

As the saying goes, it’s now or never. So you turned the doorknob, and stepped outside your bedroom— your hand holding the dagger behind you.

Jaehyun sits on the sofa while he dries his hair with a towel. He was wearing Johnny’s clothes. The scent of your own shampoo lingers in the air, a proof that he had used it. You swallowed the irritation and sauntered up towards him instead. There’s a mirror hanged on the wall above the piano, you took a quick glance at it while planning ways on how to make Jaehyun stand in front of it.

“I told you to stay in your room,” he impassively voiced out, eyes not looking up at yours. When he did look up to you, your breath was snatched away. He looked fresh, and clean. His face was free of blood now, revealing his pale yet soft features and the redness of his lips. The beauty he possesses locked you up on your position.

“By the way, I’m charging money towards the person who looks at me like that,” Jaehyun stated before standing up.

You blinked, washing away your embarrassment by clearing your throat and slightly shaking your head. “I have to ask you about a few things.” Before he could answer, you’ve already spoken, “Where did you meet Johnny?”

“Casino,” was his bored response before reaching for the remote and tuning on the television.

“Casino? Why would you meet him in a casino?”

“Your brother owes me a large sum of money after gambling all of his in baccarat,” he explained. The various colors from the television illuminating his face.

“Baccarat?”

“Casino game, one you would not understand as a college girl.” He glanced at you then. “Do you have any beer stored here?”

You ignored his remarks and shook your head instead, “We don’t. I do not allow it.”

“Well, thank fuck that this is my house now.” He leaned and propped his arms on his legs, “Why don’t you buy me a bottle as a welcome gift?”

“Don’t you have a penny?” This time, you’re the one whose voice was laced with boredom.

“I won’t ask you if I have a dollar.”

“Your audacity, it’s impeccable,” was your sarcastic response. “Why did Johnny vend you the house? Our house?” You put an emphasis to the last words, trying to veer the conversation to your advantage.

Jaehyun merely looked at you from the television, “Didn’t I just answer your question? He lost all his money, he borrowed mine, and as payment, he sold me your house. Business.”

“I couldn’t believed Johnny would sell you this house without consulting me,” you exhaled. Realization was dashing against your mind. He really sold the house, the one thing your parents built with their blood and sweat.

“Yup. Me too,” he smiled impishly, “I couldn’t believe you would have enough audacity to hide a dagger behind you.” He stood up, walking towards you in a languid manner, “Baby, is that for me?” He asked, his mouth dripping sensuality; sweet as honeysuckle. “Because I would tell you now it won’t do anything.”

You concealed your shock by straightening your back and stepping backwards, the mirror inviting your line of sight. All you have to do is step back until Jaehyun’s façade is on its surface.

“Really? What about I stab you with it through your heart?”

The urge to bury the dagger in Jaehyun’s chest was like a magnet, pulling you with a force that made your hand reveal the dagger. Fascination flickered in his eyes as he took in the length of the blade.

“You’ve got good taste.”

The dagger was raised, so is his finger. In a blink, his finger was pressed on the very edge, his blood cascading down the blade. One step, one step is all it would take for the mirror to reflect his body. One step and—

And then his mouth was on yours. Unmindful of the dagger between the both of you, Jaehyun pressed on, his kiss going ferocious in every second. Your body went rigid, the slick flicker of his tongue on your lower lip electrocuting you in the most pleasurable way.

Vampires are sinisterly sensual creatures. They could lure you with their beauty, fascinate you with their eyes. It was another thing to read about it, and another to feel it yourself. A millennium old gens never lied about vampires’ ability to romance a mortal.

The mirror. You opened your eyes, the mirror on your peripheral. It was difficult to get a better view, especially when Jaehyun was still kissing you. Your body refused to pull away, so you pulled Jaehyun closer instead. In a very unobtrusive way, you slightly turned your head sideways, so you would be able to see the mirror.

Trying your hardest not to completely fall into the desire, you grabbed Jaehyun’s hair with your other hand, then turned your body. Verity slapped you right in the guts as you see Jaehyun’s back reflecting on the mirror. You pulled away, catching your breath and gripping the dagger tightly with your hand. He reflected on the mirror, he wasn’t scorched when you splashed vinegar onto his body, he repelled the prayers and the rosary. Is he the insane one? Or is it you?

Jaehyun’s lips were swollen, and you do not doubt yours looks like that too. You stared at each other for seconds, Jaehyun stupefied in front of you. He looked shocked, like he had just came out of water, and was struggling to stabilize his breath. Before anyone could utter a word, you sprinted back to your room and locked it behind you.

—

That night, you lay awake on the mattress. Sleep feels like miles away. You could not simply close your eyes and pretend that there wasn’t a potential vampire under your roof. And you’ve kissed that vampire. It feels like betrayal, a bittersweet kind of one. However, you’ve nailed it on your mind not to repeat the same stupidity again. Not if you want to take retribution for the death of your parents.

A Roland for an Oliver. Always.

One person needs to know your wrath tonight, though. That is your brother. So you dialed Johnny’s number repeatedly until he answered.

“Why did you sell the house without consulting me?” was your greeting. The ire that you’ve been keeping inside you for hours after knowing the imbecilic decision of your brother rose up in your throat, begging to be unleashed as a scream.

“Well, good evening my dear little sister,” Johnny’s smug reply. You could almost see his sarcastic face in your mind. Before you could speak and bring hell to him, he inhaled and spoke himself, “I didn’t sell the house— well, sort of. But not really. It’s a fifty-fifty negotiation.”

You stood up, your hand on your waist. “I couldn’t believe you, Johnny! Casino? What in the heck were you thinking?”

Johnny cursed from the other line, “So the dick really told you about it?” Then a deep sigh, “Whatever he told you, it’s true. I’ve lost all my money in a game of baccarat. Don’t ask about it, you would not understand,” he uttered, so fast you almost didn’t catch it. Why is everyone thinks you won’t understand that game?

“What about Mom and Dad’s fund? Did you—”

“No! I did not,” Johnny sighed, deeper than the last time. “Well, almost half of it.”

“What?!” The scream that was threatening to come out from your mouth was unleashed, at last. You were afraid the neighbors heard it. “You—! Why did you do that?” You muttered, exasperated. Your knees felt like they would give up any second now, so you grabbed the chair and sat on it while trying to soothe your raging nerves. “That’s for us, Johnny. For our future.”

“I know. It was bad luck, Y/N. I promise, I’m working hard as much as I can to earn the money we’ve lost—”

“You’ve lost,” you repeated.

“Yeah. I’ve lost. Just, let Jaehyun stay for a while. He’s got no one and nothing.”

“What do you mean no one? And nothing?”

“He’s got no family. And no money. He’d lost it at the casino.”

You raised a brow like Johnny would see it, “Johnny, do you know that—” I saw him standing on our doorway, his stomach open and gushing out blood? Sighing, you have decided not to tell Johnny about the bloodied Jaehyun you’ve seen on your doorstep. He would only worry about you, and that’s the least thing you wanted now that your brother is miles away. “Do you know that he showed me a contract saying you sold him the house as payment for the money you owed him?”

Johnny once again cursed, “He’s fucking around with you. I’ll show you the real contract, hang on.”

Then you pulled your phone away from your ear the same time Johnny sent you a message. It was a picture of the real contract. And it was stated in the paper that Jaehyun could stay as long as he wanted in your house until Johnny earned the money he owed him. You knew it. Johnny didn’t sell the house. There is just no way he would do that.

“I knew it. I know you wouldn’t sell our house without discussing it with me.”

Johnny took seconds to speak, “I’d never sell the house, Y/N. No matter what. It’s ours.”

You rolled your lip with your teeth, “Where are you now, though? Are you eating well? Are you alright?”

Your brother chuckled, “I am. Don’t worry about your big brother. Just study and keep your self healthy.”

A pensive sigh was what you answered him. You wished your parents’ funds was enough for the both of you. So, Johnny wouldn’t have to work his butt off working here and there to provide for you.

“Just… take care. Don’t do anything illegal.”

“I won’t. Anyway, I have to go now. I have tons of work to do tomorrow. Call you tomorrow night, ‘kay? Take care, you little devil.”

“Alright. You too. Bye, Johnny.”

Then the line was cut off. You plugged-in your phone’s charger and set up the alarm. Staying up late was a bad idea, especially when you didn’t even have an ounce of sleep yesterday. It was a miracle that you’ve reached midnight without falling on your feet and sleeping on the floors. Dinner also went in the back of your mind, your appetite vanishing because of the adventure you’ve gone through for the past hours.

Going out of the room was out of the choices too. Jaehyun could be sucking an animal or a person’s neck in Johnny’s room for all you know. You frustratedly sighed, your imaginations would be the ones that would kill you, not the potential vampire inside the other room.

To get your mind off things, you checked on your group chat for any messages. Mark and Haechan, as usual, was bickering. Haechan sent a picture of his middle finger above his plates. While Mark sent a picture of the blackest coffee you’ve ever seen in your whole life with a caption, ‘palpitate? I don’t know him’ which elicited a chuckle from you.

As you glanced at your own plates, discarded at the corner near the original position of your drafting table, envy for Haechan and Mark enveloped you. You could have been on the third or fourth floor plan for the five-storey residential if not for Jaehyun.

You turned off your phone and decided to take a quick shower. You badly needed one. Jaehyun’s warning could not even stop you from washing the dried blood on your hands, wrists, over and under your fingernails.

Silence welcomed you as you peek through the door, the television was turned off, which only means that Jaehyun’s already in Johnny’s room. You finally stepped out, towel and robe in your hands.

Inside the bathroom, your shampoo bottle lay discarded on the shower floors, a sign that Jaehyun has emptied the container. You groaned, and threw the container to the trashcan with a loud thump.

As the water cascaded to your hair down your body, you felt the kiss you shared with Jaehyun, jolting your eyes open. What was that? You touched your lips. So many years of indulging yourself about vampires and how to kill them, one kiss and you are slipping off your principles already. What feebleness, you mumbled while slightly slapping your cheek.

After your quick shower, you felt cleaner than ever. No trace of blood could be seen on your hands. You wrapped yourself up with the robe, then your hair with the towel.

As you stepped out of the bathroom, you saw Jaehyun drinking a glass of water. You wrapped yourself tighter as you walked past him. He raised a brow but did not say anything. You’ve guessed the discussion about his stay could be accomplish tomorrow. Since you already had been exhausted to the bones, sleep was all you wanted and not another argument.

“Hey.” Jaehyun called out.

You froze for a few seconds before turning around to face him. What is it he wants this time?

“What?”

“What’s your name?” He asked, arms crossed with his body leaning on the counter.

Oh, yes. He hadn’t inquired about your name yet.

“Y/N,” you declared.

Jaehyun stood straight then, pocketing his hands on the pockets of his sweatpants. “The kiss. It means nothing. No need to fret about it.”

You blinked. “I’m not fretting about it.”

“Yeah? Keep telling that to yourself while touching your lips as if you could still feel mine against it.”

All the blood rushed up to your cheeks, you do not doubt you looked like a tomato with eyes right now. “What are you talking about?” Did he peer through some hole while you shower? Did he use his vampire instincts to watch you bathe?

“I didn’t watch you bathe. As I’ve said, you’re not my type. Girls willingly peels off their clothes for me, I don’t need to peek at some hole to see tits and a pussy.”

An unbelievably loud gasp resonated from your mouth, your cheeks heating up again by his bold statement. How did he know your thoughts? “What do you think of yourself? A god?”

A smirk, “Yes.”

“You’re really unbelievable,” you muttered while shaking your head. Then you turned your back on him, not turning around even after hearing his salacious laugh behind you.

—

Heat continued to wrap your body until you kicked the blanket off of you. You slowly opened your eyes, the blinding rays of the sunlight jolting you awake. You needed not glance at your phone to know that you didn’t wake up on time.

Running a hand through your hair, you unplugged the charger from your phone. Several texts from Haechan and Mark were displayed on the screen.

[Already submitted your plate. :)]

[You bugbear, where are you?]

You typed in your reply for Mark, thanking him for submitting your plate for visual techniques. It was the right decision to leave it on his drafting tube. Then you sent a wacky picture to Haechan.

After not getting a reply from the two boys, you stood up and put on your slippers. The chaos of your room was an eyesore. You reminded yourself to clean and get back on planning later.

Jaehyun was nowhere in sight, he wasn’t in the living room nor at the kitchen. Perhaps he’s still sleeping. Or maybe he’s afraid of the sunlight. As you walked straight to the kitchen, you remembered the call you had with Johnny. Someone needs to explain himself today.

A lot of things whirled in your mind as you mix the coffee in your mug. First, you need to confirm whether Jaehyun is a vampire or not. What would you do if he is? Would you kill him? No, he would definitely kill you first if you ever did something as to think about assaulting him. Or maybe… maybe he could help you— on finding the vampire who killed your parents.

Your eyes widened by your realization, the spoon falling to the sink, making a loud clanking noise. Why had you not thought about it earlier? You muttered a curse before sitting. Yes, that would be it. Once you successfully vindicated his vampire nature, you could ask him to collaborate with you in finding the monster who killed your parents. However, Jaehyun looks like he’s going to be a huge pain in the ass. Men like him do not do things without gaining something from it.

“Yes, that’s right.”

You jerked in your seat as you heard Jaehyun. He entered the kitchen like it’s his own, walking straight towards the refrigerator and slamming it shut when he didn’t find what he was searching for.

“Can you not read my mind?” Your annoyed reiteration.

Jaehyun continued his rummaging through the drawers. “I don’t. Your thoughts are just all over the place. Too loud.”

You ignored his comment and focused on your goal instead. All while remembering the things you have learned about vampire’s ability to infiltrate minds and how to block them out of it. “You told me you’re a vampire.”

Jaehyun merely glanced at you, “Did I?” Then he continued his ransacking.

“Yes. Last night.”

He attempted to leave the kitchen, “Don’t know what you’re talking about.” Then he stood still, facing you. “Aren’t you supposed to leave my house now?”

“Oh, speaking of that, I called Johnny last night. You lied to me.” You walked straight to one of the chairs and sat on it, your spoon pointing at Jaehyun’s way. “He didn’t sell you the house. You’re supposed to live here ‘til Johnny earned back the money he owed you.” A wicked smile was displayed on your lips now.

“Whatever. I better not see you again today.”

“This is my house!” You stood up from your seat, the coffee spilling as your hips collided with the table.

“Not anymore. Get out.”

“No.”

“Get out.”

You straightened your back, “What would you do, then?” Knowing that you are walking through a thin thread, still, you pushed on. “Bite my neck and suck my blood?”

Jaehyun huff out a breath, “You’re delusional.”

“You’re in denial.”

It took him two strides to face you, “Shut up.”

“Why? Did it surprise you that you revealed your true nature to a mortal? Mere minutes after meeting her?” You gathered all your willpower to smirk.

“I did not reveal you anything.” He said through gritted teeth.

You have never felt so powerful until you saw Jaehyun’s face right now. “You did. You told me—”

He turned his back towards you and left the kitchen. But your spirit has risen up, your being refractory oozing out of you. You followed Jaehyun to the living room, your hand grabbing his shirt.

Jaehyun jerked your arm away, his face ruddy from irritation when he faced you. “I didn’t tell you shit.”

“If you really didn’t, show me your wound then.” You waved your hand to where his wound was located in his stomach. “The wound that I’ve stitched up last night.”

He seemed appalled, but he quickly recovered, tuning in his smug face at the stroke. “Sorry, but my abs isn’t available at the moment. Try again next time, sweet.”

“Why don’t you just show me?” You voiced out, irritated. Jaehyun sighed and turned his back on you for the second time, but you didn’t budge as you pulled his shirt again. He tried to jerk your hand off of him but you held on.

“Let go!” He continued to wrench his shirt from your grip, the force of his hand pulling you towards the living room with him.

“Show me!”

“Damn it, Y/N! Let go!”

Jaehyun, for the last time, tugged his shirt from your hands, the force pulling you on your knees. Now you knelt face to face with his crotch, but you ignored your awkward position as you held his shirt again, then you caught a glimpse of the wound. It was a wound no more, but a faint scar instead—

“I knew it—!”

“Good mornin—! Oh shit! Oh my God! Y/N!”

You froze as you heard Mark’s shoutings, followed by Haechan’s remarks.

“Hotdog for breakfast, really, Y/N?”

You struggled on your feet, nearly tumbling again as your toe hit the foot of the coffee table. Swallowing the pulsating pain, you fixed yourself and faced your friends.

“It’s not what you think it is—”

“I told her to wait but she’s a spunky little thing, even begging and crawling for it.”

You’ve witnessed as Mark’s mouth formed a big ‘o’, his eyes nearly falling off their sockets. Haechan, beside Mark, only looked at you as if he was already tucking the information at the very back of his mind to blackmail you in the future.  

“Don’t listen to him. He’s crazy.” You tried to smile despite the embarrassment. “Johnny asked me to take care of him for awhile.”

“Yeah, sure.” Haechan snickered.

You widened your eyes at him then turned it towards Jaehyun, a forced friendly smile painted on your lips. “Just… I know this is hard for you. But stay in your room, okay? I’ll give you milk later. Be a good boy, hmm?”

You saw the irritation in his face, causing you to swallow the chuckle that was threatening to come out off you. For the last time, Jaehyun looked at you with daggers in his eyes before sauntering up to Johnny’s room.

“What was that?” Mark asked, his eyes watching Jaehyun disappear to the other room.

“Johnny’s friend. He’s been on a traumatic past, made him childlike. It’s a pity, really—”

Haechan cut your sentence off by screaming, “Y/N, what the fuck is this?! Blood?!”

Both you and Mark followed Haechan’s sight. Sweat automatically formed in your forehead as you saw Jaehyun’s blood on the sofa, almost black in color because of its dryness.

“Oh! It’s— That’s— ignore that! That’s from Jaehyun’s wound. He cut himself last night— and yes, have you had your coffee yet? Come, let’s have breakfast!” A nervous chortle was elicited from you, then.

Haechan and Mark exchanged glances before sitting on the ottomans.

“No, it’s okay Y/N. We really just came by to check up on you,” Mark declared, his palms on his knees.

Haechan, on the other side, glanced at the blood before looking at you. “Are you alright?”

A spontaneous nod, “Of course. I am!”

“He’s not giving you any troubles, is he?” Mark dug in. You shook your head. Lies. Trouble has been the first thing Jaehyun led on your doors the moment you invited him in. “Since when did he arrive?”

“Last week,” was your terse reply. “Anyways, highways, why are you here?”

Haechan kept looking at the blood, so you rushed to the kitchen and grabbed a clean rug to cover it. Only when it was covered did he answer you.

“We had a notion that maybe you’re sick,” Haechan stated. “And you told us last week Johnny’s away. Besides we don’t have any more classes so we decided to visit,” he added.

“Thank you. But I am not sick. Just woke up really late.”

After talking about your plates, and the reminders two of your professors discussed, Haechan and Mark already bid their goodbyes, no doubt to play computer games. They did not ask about Jaehyun nor the blood on the sofa any further. Instead, they’d asked you numerous times whether you were really okay before making their way out. You answered them both with a slight pat on their backs, reassuring them that all is well even if you weren’t sure of it yourself.

Jaehyun was already sitting on the sofa when you got back inside, his eyes unfathomable as he took in your presence. Suddenly, you remembered his wound, and the scar that was left of it in a span of hours.

“Shall we go back to business?” He raised his brow, an impish smile imprinted on his luscious lips. At your confused look, he attempted to untie the string of his sweatpants, resulting in you, grabbing the pillow and throwing it his way.

“Gross!” You grunted.

“C’mon. Acting all shy now? Where’s the energy from earlier? I like that version of you better.” Then a wink.

You felt the veins of your temple tick. “You’re disgusting.”

“Disgustingly hot?”

“Go to hell, Jaehyun.”

“Working on it.”

Inhale, exhale, was your continuous chant in your mind as you tried to calm your nerves. After a minute of closing your eyes and breathing heavily, you finally had enough sanity to talk to the mad man sitting on your sofa.

“You’re really a vampire.”

Jaehyun let his head fall back, his eyes closed. “I am not,” was his worn out reply.

“How would you explain your wound, then? That’s completely healed not even twenty-four hours after I’ve put it back together?”

“Y/N, don’t you know that I’m God’s favorite? That’s why I heal easily.”

“Will you stop fucking around and confirm it to me instead?” you exhaled. “You’ve already revealed yourself, Jaehyun. And if you don’t want to wake up with the whole world salivating to put a stake through your heart tomorrow, you will listen to me.”

Jaehyun looked affronted, as he furrowed his brows before opening an eye. “Was that supposed to make me shit my pants?”

You sighed, deeper than a well. One minute of talking to Jaehyun and you felt yourself going insane already. “Listen, Jaehyun—”

“Why are you so eager to know whether I am truly a vampire? A normal person would’ve knelt and begged for mercy in front of me if they’d so much as see my fangs.” He sat up straight then, regarding you with interest.

“I am not afraid of your kind.”

Jaehyun chortled, “Says the girl who literally poured vinegar on me while chanting prayers.”

“Speaking of that, how did you repel those? Those are the bane of every vampire’s existence.” You, no doubt, believe your eyes looks like they are twinkling right now.

“You don’t know enough about vampires, then.”

Your years of determined study about the lore of vampires denied Jaehyun’s insult like an instinct. “Or maybe, you are a peculiar vampire,” you reiterated.

“Didn’t admit I was a vampire, did I?”

The conversation was getting exhausting now. You feel as if running and chasing Jaehyun in an endless path that leads to nothing. Vulnerability had a hard time reflecting itself to you, but you feel like you could only reach for the answers to the questions that were circulating your parents’ deaths for years if you showed it to Jaehyun.

“Our parents died years ago.” You tried your hardest not to look at Jaehyun as you started speaking. “They said… it’s a hopeless case. The police, the detectives, and even Johnny already gave up on it. But I refused to do the same.” You cleared your throat. “My parents had two bites on each of their necks. Yes, it could’ve passed as a snake’s bite. But the two of them? A snake bite on their necks? And since when did snakes leave their victim’s body looking withered as a dead plant?” With that, you looked up to Jaehyun.

His eyes were fixed on you, devoid of any emotions. “When did it happen?”

A slight hope ignited in your heart by his question that you answered right after the words tumbled out of his lips. “Ten years ago.”

He sighed before standing up on his feet. “When they said it was a hopeless case, it really was Y/N.”

Boulders on your shoulders, that was what his words felt like. The earth and the heavens felt like closing in on you.

Jaehyun started to walk away. Ice seems to envelope all your hopes. The impact of it was different, as it came from a vampire itself. You looked up to stop the tears that were threatening to roll down your cheeks, but a traitorous tear slid down the side of your one eye, your lips shaking. You wiped it off, as harshly as you could before standing up and sprinting to your own room, the frames rattling by how forceful you shut the door closed.

—

For hours, you sat on your bed, your mind drifting off to nowhere. You refused to cry, it wouldn’t make any difference. The blackboard who has all the articles from newspapers, books, internet news magnetized your line of sight. You stood up, and walked towards it.

As you ran your hands through the crumpled papers, the image of your parents flashed in your mind. You shut your eyes closed, then the tears finally slid down.

“Mom, Dad, I’m sorry.” Your body shook, your shoulders continued to vibrate as you cried. It’s been a while since you let yourself fall. Forcing you to think that the pain of your parents’ deaths has already left. But no, it does not. Time only made it worse.

A scream resonated from your mouth as you let the pain coaxed you. You gripped the papers attached to the blackboard, and wrenched them with enough force to graze your knuckles on the hard surface, the thumbtacks scratching your fingers. Slowly, your body fell to the floors, the coldness of it biting your soles. You hugged your knees as tears continued to come out of your eyes.

Then you heard a knock.

You slowly got up on your feet. Bloodshot eyes greeted you when you looked at your reflection on the mirror. You hastily wiped your cheeks and fixed your hair before sauntering up to the door.

Jaehyun’s façade loomed over the other side.

“What?” You never meant to make the words come out vexed. But Jaehyun displayed a look of hesitation, making you uncomfortable. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to—”

“I might have a solution to your problem.”

Your gripped on the doorknob tightened, your chest constricting. “What… what do you mean?

“I meant… I might’ve a solution to the death of your parents.”

“Really?!” You held his shoulders and shook him.

“Yeah. But before anything else, I need a beer.”

After Jaehyun’s revelation, you fixed yourself and dashed for the nearest convenience store, grabbing his preferred brand of beer and filling your cart with it. You needed to be tight on your expenses after you saw the receipt, but you have no time to care one bit now that you feel elevated more than ever.

When you arrived home, Jaehyun quickly opened the bottle with his hands, while you refrigerate the others. You dashed for the living room after putting all the bottles inside.

“So, what now?” You asked like a little puppy while Jaehyun chugged down his beer.

“I’ll help you in one condition.”

Of course, there’s a condition. Thankfully, you’ve anticipated Jaehyun to be the kind of man that it didn’t surprise you anymore.

“Anything.”

“I’ll live here as long as I want. My clothes, cigs, beers— that’s all on you.” He pointed his finger at you, while holding the bottle in the same hand.

“Don’t you have any cash with you?” You tried to look kind as much as you can. Yet Jaehyun still raised a brow as a no.

“Blame the casino,” he added.

As you reckon his conditions, you grimaced privately. What would you tell Johnny if you started spending your funds? Or when you started asking for money all of a sudden?

“Alright. All your expenses, on me.” You smiled, teeth flashing while pointing at your self.

“I want my own room.”

“I will clean the storage—”

“Your parents’ room.”

With that, you stopped speaking, stopped breathing. “No.”

Jaehyun’s lips turned sideways, “Then the deal is off.” He turned to leave but you grabbed his wrist.

“Wait, alright. Alright. You could sleep there tonight. I will talk to Johnny.”

Jaehyun sat up again, a triumphant smile plastered on his lips. “Nice.”

“How did you know it was my parents’?”

The room was always locked, not when you clean it every once a week. You need not ponder how Jaehyun knew it was your parents, his vampire instincts surely told him. The room was bigger than any of the rooms inside the house, with big curtains making it cozy. There’s no doubt Jaehyun wanted it to be his just by that feature.

“Do I need to answer that?”

You shook your head. “So, how do we find my parents’ murderer?”

Jaehyun took a swig off his bottle before speaking, “Are you certain it’s a vampire?”

You didn’t answer. Instead dashed back to your own room to delve the box tucked underneath your dresser along with the dagger. In it was the picture of your parents in their withered state, the camera captured a shot of their neck, revealing the two bites each of them had. You hurriedly went back to the living room and revealed Jaehyun the pictures.

He took it with oddity, his mouth formed in a tight line. “Vampires. No doubt.”

After all these years, it was confirmed at last. You wanted to shout, but that isn’t pleasant for a time such as this. “I knew it,” you breathily stated.

Jaehyun shuffled the picture in his hands, “Some vampires has a peculiar way of killing their preys. However, the way your parents’ were murdered was no special. This is how the majority of the vampires kills.”

You leaned closer to see the picture yourself, but in a spur of moment felt embarrassed as you remember the kiss you shared, so you shifted away from him. “Is that a bad thing?”

“Yes. This gave us no clue as to who might be behind this.”

You feel your hopes shattering again. Jaehyun’s next words smashing it to smithereens.

“Vampires are all around Europe, and I do not doubt this town have several vampire clans too.” He continued, “But I know someone who could possibly identify the vampire behind this.” He waved the pictures in front of you, his mouth putting an emphasis to the word ‘possibly’. Your hope rose up in your chest again, despite the reluctance to his statement.

“What are we waiting for, then? Let’s go!” You stood up, ready to go at any given moment.

“Don’t be so excited, Y/N. He’s not a pleasant view to look at.” Then Jaehyun took one last swig on his bottle before laying it on the table with a thud.

“Anything, anyone, Jaehyun. For my parents.”

Jaehyun shrugged, “Tonight, then.”

“Where do we go?”

“Cemetery.”

—

The sky was pitch black that night, no trace of twinkling white lights could be seen in the heavens. You held your jacket tighter to your body, the howling winds with heavy mists slapping on your face, hazing your skin with little droplets of water.

The cemetery’s entrance loomed over you, the letters in the metal bars embossed with an eerily looking font. You gulped, it’s sinister façade making the hairs on your neck prickle.

“Can’t we go back tomorrow morning?” You pursed your lips after asking. Jaehyun’s eyes was fixed on the name of the cemetery above you. Eternal Rest Cemetery.

“We won’t be able to meet Hubert in daylight,” he explained.

On the way to the cemetery, Jaehyun had given you little informations about the person you would meet tonight. His name is Hubert, Eternal Rest Cemetery’s gravedigger. He didn’t tell you how had he met him, or what does he looked like other than ‘creepy’.

“Why? Isn’t daylight more fitting for meetings such as this one?” You continued to babble as you entered the vicinity. Trying your hardest not to grip Jaehyun’s arms, you unobtrusively walked closer to him instead.  

“I told you, we couldn’t meet him in daylight. And I am not bestfriends with the sun, Y/N.” Jaehyun is clothed with a black shirt, paired with one of Johnny’s sweatpants again, since you haven’t bought him his own yet.

“Why? Aren’t you immune?” You glanced at the several tombstone, waiting for some ghost to show up and grabbed you with them underground. If this scene was accompanied by a smoke, and sinisterly white lights, it could pass as a horror movie already.

The wet tombstone was glinting against the moonlight, muds covering the green grass, leaving it mixed up with brown and green colors.

“How could you keep too many questions in that pretty mouth of yours?” Jaehyun asked, snapping his head at you.

You drew into a sudden halt, flustered by his question. Against the night, Jaehyun looked ashen if not for the redness of his lips, his face was giving off a chalky visage. He looked more vampiric now ever since you saw him.

When you didn’t answer, Jaehyun started to walk again, with you trailing behind him, mindful of the tombstones watching as you passed by.

In front of the rustic metal bars, Jaehyun halted. You stood behind him, observing the size of the space where the gravedigger must have been staying. Jaehyun rattled the bars again, the rust cascading down the grass.

You start as you saw someone penetrated the metal bars. Jaehyun shifted on his position, giving you a better view at the person— or an entity— in front of him. In an instant, you were reminded by the ghosts in Lord of the Rings. Hubert looks like a green smoke, but his whole façade is intact, no missing flesh nor eyes. He is tall, clad in suit like it came from Victorian era. Now you understand why Jaehyun insisted to meet him in night time. A ghosts could not be seen in daylight.

“Hubert! My friend, do you remember me? Of course, you do! Even ghosts wouldn’t forget this face.”

Hubert brushed him off with a stare before nodding his head your way.

Jaehyun waved his hand towards you, “This is Y/N. My friend. She needs something from you.”

Hubert looked at Jaehyun meaningfully, it was like a code you have no chance to decipher. After that, Jaehyun whispered something to him, but the ghosts shook his head.

Jaehyun glanced your way, his face abstruse. Then he held your shoulder, guiding you away from Hubert who remained standing on his spot.

“I forgot to tell you something.” Jaehyun released a curse. “Hubert, he has no tongue.”

You couldn’t help but to release a curse yourself, “What?!”

“If the crime happened in a cemetery, he would surely know the vampire who killed your parents.” Jaehyun took a quick glance at Hubert, “Usually, he would write it down on a paper. But something befell him, with the involvement of dark magic. I could smell it from him, Y/N. He is enchanted.”

This time, it’s you who peeked at Hubert’s tall frame. “I… I don’t know where my parents really died.”

“A higher chance that they were killed here, then.” Jaehyun licked his lips, “Trust me. Vampires around this town usually slays their prey in cemeteries.”

It was a gnawing suspicion at you, the real location where your parents had died. The policemen said it was likely that they were dumped into the crime scene, since their body hadn’t made a pattern on the earth yet. It was distinctly possible that they were killed in a cemetery.

“How could we make him talk?” You bit on your lower lip.

Jaehyun’s eyes lingered on your lips for a few seconds before he answered. “He wants you to offer him your own tongue.”

You were thrown off balance by his statement, your words coming out as a loud baffled gasp, you were afraid you would wake up the whole cemetery. “My what?!”  

“So he could talk,” Jaehyun explained like he was talking about the strands of your hair instead of your tongue.

You felt your tongue before speaking, “Is there any other way?”

If cutting your tongue out of your mouth was the only way to identify your parents’ murderer, you’d gladly do it. But you at least need to try for different alternatives, since your tongue is a crucial part for your mission.

“Yes,” Jaehyun answered, he held his finger to quiet you down when you attempted to speak. “We would need to hunt for a witch to enchant him. But I’m telling you now it’s gonna be a lot of work. Witches has already learned how to be cunning and inconspicuous ever since Salem.”

The Salem Witch Trials. You’ve encountered it when you first started reading about vampires. It was a series of prosecutions for people suspected of witchcraft between February 1692 to May 1693 in Massachusetts. Thirty were found guilty, nineteen of them had met the infamous Gallow Hills to die by hanging.

“How did you know all this?”

“It was my on the job training before I completely transformed into a vampire.” Jaehyun declared. You would have nodded since you didn’t know that information when he started to laugh. “Just kidding.”

“Then… do you know any witch that might be in this town?” Your voice was calm and toned down now, not sure if it’s because of your location or the lingering feeling that Jaehyun might think of you as a coward for refusing to lacerate your tongue.

He wiped the sides of his mouth with his fingers, “Yes. I know one. But I don’t think she’s going to see me.”

“Then I’ll talk to her.”

Jaehyun took in your expression and the determination in your face before nodding, “Alright.” Then he turned his head back to Hubert, who has disappeared to his small space behind the metal bars. Jaehyun tried to call for him, but the ghost did not appear again.

“He could be really annoying sometimes.” Jaehyun shrugged.

—

The following days, you tried to get back on your normal life by starting off your plates and pretending as if you hadn’t just met a vampire in your doorstep, and that you didn’t make a deal with that vampire to find your parents’ murderer, and that you hadn’t gone into a cemetery in the middle of the night to talk to some tongueless ghost that might be holding the key to your life’s biggest mystery.

Exhausting, yes. But fulfilling nonetheless. Johnny had no idea about your endeavors, and you do not plan to tell him anytime sooner. You’ve also warned Jaehyun not to mention anything to your brother, which was only answered with a deadpanned expression and ‘I don’t have a phone’ statement.

Jaehyun had his own adventures at night, only returning before the dawn breaks. You did not ask about his business, but you’ve been seeing droplets of blood on his shirt every now and then. The humane part of you wanted to banish him, for threatening the life of other people, but you also didn’t want to offend him. You could not afford him bailing out of your deal.

One night, though, you had no chance to stop yourself when you noticed blood on his shirt.

“Do you kill people, Jaehyun?”

The answer could be no, since there were no news about people being murdered the same way your parents had been.

“Why do you care?” He sounded irritated that you shut your mouth for a moment before pressing on.

“How does their blood tastes like?”

He snapped his head at you, baring his fangs. “Care to offer me your neck so I could answer your question?” With that, he slammed the refrigerator door shut, and stormed out of the kitchen with beer in hand.

You watched as his back disappeared from your sight, his statement leaving puzzles in your mind.

Then you remember a fact about vampires from your books. Yes, they need human blood to sustain themselves. But that does not prohibit them from drinking the blood of other living creatures. Doing so would satisfy their thirst, but it won’t provide them the same power as human blood. Jaehyun’s wound didn’t heal according to his ability to cure himself faster than any being because a continuous doze of animal blood would render their powers weaker.

Which only means that Jaehyun does not drink human blood. A swell of pride bloomed in your heart by the realization. Perhaps he is a vampire, but he isn’t monstrous.

“Here.”

You looked up to Jaehyun, who slammed a paper on your drafting table.

You ignored it. “Can you please knock before barging in my room?”

“Look at what I’ve got.” He ignored your annoyance and motioned his hand on the paper. Only then you took a glance at it. It was an invitation. “Invitation for Madame Juana’s party.”

You stood up from your seat, eyes twinkling. “Isn’t she the witch?!”

The golden print of the invitation was exquisitely inviting that you grabbed and ran your fingers through it. You could not believe Jaehyun got the invitations.

“Yes. It is a formal party, Y/N. We need clothes, especially me.”

“What are you waiting for? Get dressed! We’re going shopping!” You giggled before pressing the invitation between your planning and design’s book.

Two hours before the malls starts to close. You quickly changed and met Jaehyun outside the house. This time, he was wearing a white shirt paired with cargo pants, one you bought him. His dog tag making him hotter than he already is.

You tried not to focus on him as you got on the bus. Jaehyun sat beside you, while you sat near the window. Then the memory of the bus you rode in weeks ago suddenly drawing to a halt went crashing back in your mind.

“Jaehyun… weeks ago. Did you… cross the streets all of a sudden?” You decided to ask. It doesn’t change anything, you were just curious since there’s a high chance he was the one who crossed the street that night, fast as a lightning.

“Yes,” was his uninterested reply. You nodded and didn’t press any further. But when you shifted to look at the view outside the vehicle, Jaehyun spoke. “Were you hurt?”

He didn’t ask how did you know. It was obvious that you were inside that bus. Slightly perplexed by his question, you shook your head. “No.”

“Did I hurt anyone?” His eyes were fixed forward, not bothering to glimpse at you.

“No. You did not.”

“We’re here,” he announced before the bus halted in front of the mall.

—

“Jaehyun, could you please slow down?” You hissed while tugging your too-tight dress further down you knees.

Jaehyun was walking ahead of you as if he was being chased by a wild cat. The painful feeling of your heels against your soles flaming your agitation. Madame Juana’s party was a formal one. And it’s not as if you could not walk with heels, you could perfectly do that even if you put a book on the top of your head. But Jaehyun’s strides makes it harder for you to do so.

The stygian corridors of Madame Juana’s mansion makes it harder for you to navigate with your too-tight dress and dangerously thin red bottoms. What literally came into her mind to decide not to put lightbulbs in her corridor? Your question was answered when you saw the light from the hall infiltrating through the open curtains at the end of the corridor. A touch of anticipation.

Jaehyun held up his hand at you when you’ve finally reached him.

“Hurry! It’s starting!” His breath fanned your cheeks as you entered the party, making you blush all of a sudden. He was clad in a simple black suit, which took a huge amount from your allowance. Despite that, he towered most of the men in the hall once you entered.

Jaehyun is simply ravishing.

Eyes from both women and men bore into his façade as you walked through the throngs of guests. Some whispering about his vampire nature, and some giggling by how good he looks like. It made you realized that this party wasn’t meant for mortals.

The orchestra was playing a forlorn music from the other side of the made platform, unfitting for a party such as this one.

“Madame Juana’s mortal husband died.” Jaehyun whispered all of a sudden, an explanation for the question you’ve asked only to yourself.

“Why is she throwing a party then?”

“Because she’s happy. She’s collected a number of rich husbands in the span of her life, Y/N.” He leaned closer, his minty breath whiffing your nose again.

You cleared your throat, trying to make your voice little. “How old is she?”

A waitress passed by, offering you a margarita. You gladly took one with a nod of thanks.

“Five hundred years old.”

You almost spat your drinks, eyes widening. “Five hundred years old?”

Jaehyun only nodded. The music halted, magnetizing your focus on the woman at the top of the stairs. She was clad in the finest silk, her skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood. If you didn’t know that she was a witch, you would think of her as a vampire.

“Don’t say that to her face later,” Jaehyun warned before clapping his hands.

You ignored his enraging ways to read your mind and started to clap your hands together. Madame Juana started to descend the stairs, her silk gown moving like ocean waves. She does not look like a five-hundred year old witch. Rather, she only looked like a few years older than you.

One of the waitresses handed her a mic, you were mesmerized by how her lips moved as she welcomed everyone who has attended his late husband’s first month death anniversary.

After her warm reception, the forlorn music became jovial. The guests started to chatter in loud voices, while Madame Juana greeted each of her visitor.

Jaehyun stood still beside you, watching the Madame like a predator… or a prey. And as if Madame Juana felt Jaehyun staring at her, her eyes suddenly shifted towards the both of you. You start in your position, feeling as if your muscles are strained. The Madame raised her hand, which is holding a glass of red wine, towards you. Jaehyun imitated her actions, and you have no other choice but to join them as they toss their glasses to the air.

You sipped on your drinks, the same time the music shuffled and then all you could hear was the Waltz of the Flower by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. Most of the guests gathered between the hall, and they started to dance. You know the piece yourself. Your mother loved it so much, teaching you how to slow dance with it when you were little.

Awestruck by the pairs of dancing bodies on the dance floor, you did not notice Jaehyun stretching out his hand to you until you blinked out of oblivion and saw him watching you with a small smile painted on his lips.

“Will you give me the pleasure to dance with you, milady?”

A hearty chuckle resonated from your throat before taking Jaehyun’s hand. He guided you towards the dance floor, securing you with his hands.

“I am not good at dancing,” you warned him with a chuckle.

Jaehyun laughed, “Let’s fall together then.”

Eyes locked with Jaehyun, you let yourself leave your worries behind for a while. You stepped on Jaehyun’s feet every now and then, but he only brushed it off with a chuckle. After a few minutes on the dance floor, you regained your footing along with the memories of the steps your mother taught you. Jaehyun spun you around with an ease of a professional.

The chandeliers painted Jaehyun’s face with a light that wasn’t meant for a creature such as him; it made him more human, more real. His dashing aura blinding you, together with his smile. All of a sudden, you forgot the bloodied man in your front porch weeks ago, replaced by a new Jaehyun. It felt like it was the first time you were seeing him.

You chuckled. Both of your laughters mixing with the music, pulling you into bliss. You hadn’t noticed when most of the guests drew into a halt, leaving a few pairs together with you and Jaehyun on the dance floor.

The both of you were catching your breaths when the music stopped, the claps of the visitors making you smile.

“Kiss! Kiss!”

Your smile was easily replaced by a flustered expression when the visitors started to chant. Jaehyun mischievously glanced at you, deepening the redness of your cheeks.

“Kiss! Kiss!”

All the chants were muffled as Jaehyun grabbed the back of your head. Your eyes widened, muscles frozen. You closed your eyes and waited for his lips to touch yours, but nothing came.

Someone cleared her throat. You opened your eyes and saw Madame Juana walking towards you. She smiled, pearlescent white teeth flashing.

“Nice to see you here, Y/N.” Then she gave you a peck on the cheek before turning her eyes to Jaehyun. Her smile quickly dropped to a frown as she took in his aura. “And you. Jung Jaehyun.”

Her smile returned when she looked at you again, “Come. Let’s talk about your parents.”

Madame Juana led you through a corridor across the entrance you walked in earlier. Unlike the other one, the corridor was flashing with lights, almost blinding you. She opened the door at the end of it. Stacks of books and bookshelves filled your sight as you blinked and refocused your eyes.

“As you can see, I have too many visitors to entertain tonight. Talk.” She waved her fingers languidly as Jaehyun closed the door behind him.

“We need your help to enchant a tongueless gravedigger,” you started.

Madame Juana sat, her eyes looking straight at yours. “I’ll help you.”

Your happiness swelled up as you didn’t expect her to easily cooperate.

“In one condition.” She propped her chin onto her palm.

“Anything!” You took a step towards her, laying your palms on the top of her table. Jaehyun followed and stood beside you.

“Kill Alena for me.”

Jaehyun tensed, his mouth formed in a thin line. “You are insane.”

You widened your eyes at him in warning and turned your head towards Madame Juana instead. “Who is this Alena?”

When she attempted to speak, Jaehyun cut her off, providing you the answers himself. “She’s the head of the Detritius clan of vampires.”

You shot Juana a look. “What makes you think I could kill her?” Even if driven by madness, you still could not. Right now, you doubt your skills— you doubt even your determination.

“That’s it, pretty girl.” She raised her finger towards Jaehyun to shut him up. “I’ve cursed Alena to die in the hands of a mortal. Your goal to make the gravedigger speak is fitting to my intentions. It’s a win-win situation, don’t you think? Not unless you’re ready to slash your own tongue out of your mouth.” She smiled her alluring smile.

You took a glimpse at Jaehyun. He was shaking his head at you, but this is your chance. It’s preposterous, but it is the only way. You shut your eyes for a moment and took deep breaths before facing Juana again.

Then you nodded.

“Perfect!” She clasped her hands. “Visit me again tomorrow, so we could talk about it in details. Don’t worry, I’m not sending you to war without weapons, darling.” She stood up and brought her hand to your cheek, caressing it. “Now get out. Both of you.”

You did as you were told, your heart hammering against your chest. Jaehyun did not speak to you until you’ve reached the outside of the mansion and until you grabbed his arm.

“Jaehyun—”

He sighed, “Y/N, I’m not sure about this one.”

You released a breath, “Why? Jaehyun, you can’t bail—”

“Alena… I am bound to her.” He ran his hand through his hair, his eyes suddenly seeing the ground more interesting than you.

You took a step back. His words blowing you out of proportion. “I don’t understand.”

Only then he looked up to you, his eyes reflecting something you could not decipher. “Y/N, Alena is my fiancée.”

[primolovebot]

MEMENTO MORI; CHAPTER II

IL SOGNO. 

I finally feel like I got my shit together on this one. I hope you enjoy it even though it’s a lil less smutty! I’m already way too obsessed with the oc.  This chapter is about 3,600 words long!

AO3 LINK HERE - honestly I think it’s a little easier to read there than here.

Red light lingered in the chapel from the stained glass. It shone over pews full of worshippers kneeling in prayer. There were never any empty seats whenever Terzo returned from tour. His sermons were the highest attended in centuries. It turned out many Satanists were great fans of the project and treated Papa more like a rockstar than a Pope.

"Our father

Who art in hell

Unhallowed be thy name."

The believers quietly murmured along with him; only a few needed to follow along in the Dark Book. It was serene until Papa stopped abruptly. Leonardo slowly glanced up to see what caused the interruption.

Time slowed as Terzo's head began bouncing down the carpeted stairs. The room grew eerily silent. No one moved. No one gasped. No one breathed. All was still. His body stood tall at the altar, his papal robes slowly beginning to drench with blood. The head left a dark red trail as it continued to roll towards the aisle. 

Slowly the quiet sermon began again. 

"Cursed be the sons and daughters

Of thine Nemesis."

At first, Leonardo thought it was Papa speaking. Yet as he stood up to check, he finally noticed the Cardinal standing at the top of the steps, holding a soaked sword in his right hand. 

Copia had killed Papa and was finishing his sermon for him. 

He reached out, pushing Terzo's body over as he locked eyes with Leo. The corpse hit the marble floor with a thud.

 The soft words turned into a loud chant as he descended the steps. The sound surrounded Leonardo. Copia was all he could hear. 

"Whom are to blame

Thy kingdom come

Nema,"

He should have been scared. He should have run. Yet it was oddly comforting. This was his finacé, murderer or not. They studied one another as the Copia seemed to float in closer.

The light made The Cardinal look sinister. His face was hardly recognizable, only his smirk and white eye visible. His red cassock was stained, and large circles of a darker crimson spread across his chest and arms. 

Leo could feel his mouth water at the sight. There was something about the idea of his lover doing something so terrible for him that made him a bit hot under the collar. 

Once he gained control of himself, he stepped out to the aisle. He nearly tripped over the head on the ground before reaching to pick it up. He looked it over, letting his eyes meet Terzo's. He could see the mouth moving, struggling to say something. A warning, perhaps. Leo tried to read his lips to no avail. 

The Cardinal moved in close, dropping his weapon along the way. 

"Cuore mio, are you proud? I did this for us. It is what we must do to ascend. Everything will be yours." He whispered.

His voice sounded unrecognizable. It was as if thousands of souls within him were speaking together at once. The only indicator that he was speaking was that his mouth moved with each syllable. Copia reached out for his fiancé's hand.

Leonardo leaned into the touch and nodded quickly. He tried to speak, to praise the other but couldn't speak. The younger looked up to the Cardinal, worried, wondering why he was still silenced. He squeezed the older man's hand, fighting to get any sound out.

Copia smiled wider and began pointing his finger, urging Leo to look behind him. 

All of the hair on Leonardo's neck suddenly stood. The room became intensely hot. A hazy fog spread along the floor. The shift caused him to drop Papa's head. His eyes followed as it began to roll towards the doors in the rear of the chapel. 

A black hoof raised and came back down to stop the head.

Leo's breaths came in short pants as panic began racing through his chest. He hadn't performed a ritual. He hadn't sacrificed anything. Why was the Dark Lord there? Surely he had done something wrong. Lucifer was busy; he didn't have time to drop in out of the blue. Not even for a clergy member.

Then again, he had always had a talent for contacting Lucifer. The last time He appeared, He convinced Leo to join the ministry. 

The silent Archbishop dropped to his knees where he stood, putting his hands together in prayer.  

"Prohibere." Stop. The Goat spoke. Its mouth did not move. It did not need to. 

Leo's wide brown eyes met the slit eyes of the animal, listening to its commands and stilling.

 He hadn't expected the other to appear as a goat. He had always thought that was more metaphorical than anything. He had been expecting some gorgeous man. Before he could get too lost in thought, Satan was speaking again. 

"Bastardus regnabit." 

The bastard will reign. 

 Leo nodded quickly, agreeing to make it happen, his eyes cast downward. He didn't attempt to ask questions. It was clear Lucifer wasn't exactly in a chatty mood.

When he looked up again, the Goat was gone, and Copia was kneeling in front of him. His body was swarmed in blue, black, and gold papal fabric. His face was white, eyes sockets, cheekbones, and lips all accented with black paint. Leonardo's eyes nearly popped out of his head at the sight.

The Cardinal would become Papa.

The Archbishop thought he was leaning for a kiss, but instead, Copia grabbed him by his shoulders and began shaking him violently.

Leo gasped as his eyes shot open. After looking around, he quickly realized it had all been a dream.

Terzo was giving his Black Mass for the ministry, head attached. The lights were on, and the room smelled of heady incense. Leonardo's eyes finally found the cause of the shaking. Secondo sat beside him in the pew with a smirk as he let his hands fall.

"You're too young to be falling asleep during Mass, Arcivescovo." He teased, studying him for a moment. "Did Papa really bore you that much? Or did planning your engagement party keep you awake all night? "

Leo shook his head, slowly beginning to relax as he realized everything was normal. He let out a little breath as his wits returned to him.

 "Can you blame me? Papa can sing, but he's horrible at sermons." Leo joked, rubbing a hand over his face to fully wake himself up. 

Feeling eyes on him, he looked across the aisle to find Copia staring at him like a worried puppy. The other had always been annoyingly good at reading his emotions. He knew something was up. Leo gave the Cardinal a small thumbs up so he would at least stop staring for now. 

"Come, child, it's time for communion," Secondo whispered next, moving to rise along with the rest of the church. Leonardo tiredly followed, getting up and moving into the line. 

Unsurprisingly his fiancé ended up beside him. "I'm okay," Leo promised quietly, reaching out to squeeze the other's leather-clad hand. 

Copia offered a worried little nod. "Si, si," he replied, knowing they couldn't speak much while slowly inching forward towards Primo and Terzo, who was giving the sacrament.

Leo only let go of Copia's hand when it was his turn to kneel before Papas. There was a glint in Terzo's eyes as he offered the wafer. The Archbishop was worried that the man knew of his dream and quickly sipped his wine before hurrying out of the way. 

He could feel the eyes of the church on him as he shuffled back to his pew.

The Mass, thankfully, wasn't much longer. Of course, it was utterly boring without any more visits from Lucifer or visions of his future husband drenched in blood, but Leo survived. 

Once it ended, Leonardo and Secondo were two of the first people out. Outside of the chapel doors, they stood and joked around. The pair had been too busy recently to catch up, but they took what time they could each Saturday morning.

The two became fast friends as soon as Leo came to the ministry. Many seemed jealous that he was among the few people Secondo got along with. He couldn't help it. They had simply bonded together by partying.

He still secretly hoped Secondo was planning a bachelor party for him.

It took Copia a few minutes to squeeze through the crowd and find them outside. He greeted Secondo with a little bow and an awkward smile before looking over to his fiancé. 

"Are you sure you're okay? You rushed after the sacraments…you never fall asleep during Mass." The Cardinal fussed. He was clearly fighting the urge to reach out and cup Leo's face.

"I promise I'm fine. I didn't sleep well yesterday…but the dream was nice. You were in it."  he replied with a wink, causing the Cardinal to blush.

Secondo laughed at the response before patting his friend's arm and offering a slight head bow. "I'll leave you two to it." He said before waving and heading down the path toward the ministry.

 Perhaps Leo should have been scared of Copia after the intense dream, but he couldn't bring himself to feel that way. He would never be on the opposite end of Copia's rage; seeing the other worry over him reminded him. If he did follow through and hurt Terzo, he would only be following Lucifer's will. Who was Leonardo to deny that?

"Shall we go?" The Cardinal asked, holding a hand out to his partner. The Archbishop rolled his eyes at how sickeningly sweet it was before he took it. 

"Si,"  He replied with a small smile. "Be patient. I will tell you about the dream,"  he promised because he could still feel the other staring at him intently.

"Fine, I will be patient, amore. Just this once."  Copia complained quietly. "Let's get out of here before anyone tries to find us," he said, pulling Leo along quicker across the courtyard.

"You should have brought your tricycle. We could have planned an escape." He teased with a soft laugh as they squeezed their way through the crowd.

It didn't take long for the pair to steal away. After walking around the grounds for a few minutes, they found themselves alone along the side of one of the abbey buildings.

The scent of hyacinths filled the yard, and a slightly cool spring breeze made their cassocks flow somewhat.

Both had busy schedules, but Copia wasn't letting Leo get away. As badly as the older male wanted to know, he was terrible at asking. Copia walked in a small circle, opening and closing his mouth as he tried to figure out what to say. 

"I saw Satanas." Leo finally spoke, tired of seeing his fiancé struggle. He slowly backed Copia against the brick wall so he would stop pacing. "That's why I fell asleep, I think. He wanted to see me," he explained.

Copia froze for a moment, leaning back against the wall. "He doesn't just…visit, Angelo." he tried to argue, processing the possibility.

 "Have you sacrificed anything to him lately? Make any offerings that would have him show up?" 

Leonardo thought about the words for a moment before he shook his head, chewing at his lower lip. "I think he was asking for an offering. Or maybe it was just a warning of what is to come." The brunette explained. 

"What sort of offering?"

Leo gently squeezed Copia's side. He was quiet for a moment,  nervous about speaking more. "You'll think I'm crazy if I tell you, C. I don't want to upset you." he breathed out.

Copia's face fell at the words. He pulled away some, crossing his arms over his chest as if trying to protect himself from bad news. 

"He does not wish us to be wed then, hm? Are you sure you are not getting cold feet?" he asked, assuming entirely incorrectly.

The mix-up led Leo to laugh softly. He quickly moved into Copia's personal space, reaching up to slowly pull his arms away from his body, wanting them wrapped around him instead. "No, no. That is not what he wants, I promise," he assured the other.

Copia still didn't seem entirely convinced. 

Leo leaned up onto his toes to press a warm kiss to the other's lips. "I promise, Satanas still wants us to wed. It wasn't about that,"  he said, reaching up to cup at Copia's cheeks. 

"He was just showing me how we can be powerful together….how we can move up the ranks, so to speak," Leonardo said, searching Copia's face for a moment.   "I will tell you more when the time comes, si? Do not look at me like that. You look like a sad little mouse. I hate it."  

Copia groaned, doing his best to let it go for the moment. He sighed and nodded, returning the gentle kiss. "Fine, but I do not like secrets. Even if He is involved." he gave in, rubbing a hand across Leo's waist. "You just scared me. I could see on your face how freaked out you were, Leo." 

"Would you not be freaked out if a Goat came to speak to you in your dreams? Eh?" The Archbishop replied, pecking him again to distract him. "I don't want you to ever worry that something will come between us, si, Topolino?"  He ranted for a moment, topping it off with a little kiss.

The Cardinal flushed a soft pink at the words, but he quickly returned the peck before he began to nod. "Okie dokie," he replied, squeezing Leo's waist.

"Okie dokie," Leonardo repeated and carefully moved to press his hips against one of Copia's thighs. The Cardinal quickly responded and began pushing his leg up between Leo's.  

"We will never be apart, and if we ever are separated, we will reunite in hell as one," Leo grumbled, continuing to tease his fiance. He nipped at Copia's lower lip as he started to grind down against his thigh.

"Right here?" he asked worriedly, glancing around to ensure they weren't being spied on. The younger didn't give him much time to check before pulling him into a harsher kiss. 

He didn't bother answering the question as their kissing became more passionate. The pair was soon rutting against one another. Leonardo could feel his cheeks flushing as pleasure began to pool deep in his stomach. He reached down to Copia's groin, smirking as he felt how hard the other already was.

It wasn't long before they were panting against one another's lips. They likely would have taken it further had a pair of Sisters not walked by giggling at the couple of them.

 Though it was clear he wanted to linger, Copia took a deep breath and slowly pulled away. A deep blush had settled in under his freckles. "Seestor will murder us if she catches us like this, you know," he said with a forced laugh. 

"You're right. I'll have to wait until after the party to canoodle with you." Leo grinned. He took a deep breath to try and calm himself down. "I hate that we always get interrupted right while I'm on the edge." he began complaining, which caused his fiancé to giggle shyly. 

Copia reached out to fix some of the black paint that smudged on Leo's lower lip. "We will go over the edge later, si?" he asked as he started pulling away. "We must go…we have a long day."  he reminded.

"Right. I am very excited to see you in clothes beside the cassock tonight. It's been a while since I've seen you in a suit, C."  he laughed softly.

Copia flushed at his words before taking Leonardo's hand and lifting it to his lips to kiss his bare knuckles. "Who said I wouldn't be in my cassock?"  he joked before finally offering a little wave and walking away. 

 "Do not work too hard today, Angelo. I expect you on the dance floor all night." He called back.

Leonardo chuckled before turning and heading in the opposite direction. He took a deep breath before heading towards the monastery. There was no better way to celebrate conversing with Lucifer than to torture some of his Bishops.

The cogs were starting to turn in his brain as he thought about how he could boss the junior clergy members around when he slammed into somebody as he rounded the corner. 

Leo apologized profusely before finally looking up to see who he had bumped against. He froze as Terzo grinned.  

"Why are you in such a rush, Fratello? I saw you run out of the chapel just now….embarrassed you fell asleep?" he asked with a wide grin.

"Oh, I was just, um..letting my eyes rest."  He wanted to throw up. He was groaning internally. "Besides, you know I have quite a busy day, Papa. I need to help guide your children and, of course, the engagement-"

"Ah, si si, I heard about our little Cardinal's soiree tonight. How exciting for you both." Papa waved off the conversation. "I'll be there, don't worry." 

Leonardo nodded, forcing a smile on his lips. "Then you know I have a lot to plan for tonight, Papa. Really I should be going," he said, doing his best not to think about how much prettier Terzo looked when his head was rolling down the stairs.  

Papa seemed to notice how he spaced out for a moment, humming. "What is it that is so boring about me today, Arcivescovo? You cannot seem to pay attention to me for more than a moment. I'm becoming offended." he snickered, holding a hand over his chest as he stepped closer.

"I suppose I just have a lot on my mind, Papa. I promise I will tell it all to you in confession." He grinned, bowing some to Teroz, letting his head fall further. "Please, excuse me. I need to lead my little lambs. Your Bishops are a handful." he said, reaching out to squeeze Papa's arm.

Terzo didn't even get a chance to reply before Leo pushed past him to walk down the hall. Usually, the Archbishop was far more careful about how he acted with Papa. He'd be as formal as possible and humor him, but now he felt less of a reason to keep the mask up. 

He wouldn't be Papa for much longer. 

Terzo watched after the Archbishop made his swift escape, grumbling quietly to himself and wondering what the hell was happening. He made a mental note to ask Secondo about it. 

"Asshole." he sighed as he turned back towards the chapel.

—-

Though Leonardo had reassured Copia many times, the man spent the rest of the day wondering what Satan could have to say about him. He had already thought he wasn't worthy of his fiancé's hand in marriage, so he couldn't imagine the Lord saying anything good about their pairing.

Leo was supposed to be a prime mover. He had excellent schooling, was charming, and was good at keeping everyone in check. When they married, there would be no more room for the Archbishop to climb the social ladder. 

The conversation about killing Terzo was so far back in his mind he couldn't even register the possibility it was about that. 

By the time the night came, and Seestor was shooing him out of his office to get ready, Copia was a wreck. He had far too much time to pretend to work while secretly spiraling. 

He began pacing again when he reached his quarters, not keeping great track of the time. He murmured softly, speaking to his pet rats, who all stood at the edge of their cage to watch him curiously. 

"I can't lose him, Rigatoni." Copia frowned over to the smallest one. 

The man was pulled from his thoughts as he heard a loud banging on his door. "Ah, just a minute!" The Cardinal called out, trying to pull himself together before finally pulling the door open. 

"Took you long enough," Leo said, grinning at the slightly taller man. It fell after a moment. "You haven't gotten changed yet…they're starting," he added next, offering his fiancé a confused look. 

Copia groaned and stepped back to let his fiancé in before finally wandering towards the closet. "Mie scuse, I've been so distracted today, Angelo," he muttered as he pulled his red suit out to start getting changed.

Leo followed behind him, briefly greeting the small rodents before sitting on the edge of Copia's bed. "Mi amore, everything is going to be okay-" he was cut off as Copia grumbled to himself while tugging up his tight pants.

"If everything is okay, then tell me what he said." He said pointedly, his voice more serious than Leonardo had ever heard.

The Archbishop watched him with wide eyes before taking a breath. "There is to be a new Papa. Soon….I know we were joking about…" his words began drifting off as he stared at the 'Hang In There' cat poster hanging.

"We kill Terzo. You take his place."  Leonardo finally spits it out.

Copia paused after pulling his shirt on, leaving it unbuttoned for a moment. "Are you making fun of me?" the Cardinal asked, checking.

"I promise I'm not," He replied, letting his brown eyes meet Copia's odd ones.

 "Do you have any idea who your parents are, C?"

[libidomechanica]

Passion you departed, every one, into thee his neare ouerthrow

A ballad sequence

               I

A dull defensive war. Cupids     dart an image should be broken lily lies—the stony     British stare. Your girl was

always to blaw! The true that good     god make no pretence. Looking for Lebanon in the child     holds her green complete,

however she came to his gray shadow,     once I gave love: now I pray thee sink no moment pushing     to Conclusion. Dry;

no tear could now is come again,     and the way! All new successions of thought upon the rocks,     annihilation, this

our time, socked in every word but     mouth, when alone, puffed vp with pleasaunce: but little helpe to     harme thereof spends all his

might from the East, and gall. Passion     you departed, every one, into thee his neare ouerthrow.     Remember yours like a

wig. And limped downstairs in the acres     of garnered fruit, is waste; the regions on, while still     temptation follow her one

poem which hath no name, doth points     of morning of their white told my wrinkle. It is snowing     it, that now vnnethes their

eyes did seemed as happy pieties,     that kindles red. The soul out to the bed. And sware deuoutly     then, the crystal seek,

but for souls—the poor sodger’s wealthy     men, who care not a stone to pick up and downe dyd lye.     Of pale-mouth’d prophet dreaming

rills we travel. The Moor; and     for thou dost go, since you found? So spake this, a mute and sank     to the sky the long-wish’d-

for end, full of rules. How tall it     anything we wander, to thee wither in the red dress     shall call me ungentle,

unfair, I long’d so heartily     then, the pith, like corpse. Walking of the dead; into all: the     true gods sigh for the breath

was its earthly guest! Display thy     beauty morn by morn; I earth gone nearer. And when dead I’ll     be thy grave. Which to help

them achieve and revelled in     my palm nothing dwells in me but snow and icicles. My     glass shall I believe him

thy choir, and birds, and beneath,     and innocent. So long ago; and I am desolate     and he stops under

your advice, to melt this the Wine,     the music of the hours of thee the Dead; now made of perfumed     tincture of the rail.

               II

But with expected guest had slain.     Dear and fears, and thaw this is in me it bides: my true-     love hath mask’d—a Power in some untrodden regions on,     while turbidly ran, and

take a car again in to that     ’twere profanation also may comes, and the ranckorous     rigour of his Wit wouldest thought dead; A pardlike Spirit     with tears? But, lovers, children

here now, no force; she seemed to     live. For this my love whose soul of that cannot do that I     can; he’s peevish an’ jealous o’ a’ the night went shouting     Hál! They never lost, and

many hours: her hair—clasp your fame!     Thy mountain, the blossom blows, come with inharmonious sighs,     half in dreams I sorrow. Sleep robb’d me of that heat running     of the sky ascendancy,

are deaf that liberty commits,     when the stars above, and when she charms, to enflesh my     flower leaned aside, his honor: the blame out of a girl,     whose quietness a rosy

sanctuary will I gladly     thee see, What deaf and viperous murdering among     the hill. Then, fixing still and Ocean I sit upon the     sea, or a juggler hates

the Universe every-dayness     of noble heart that ran men’s Ears with the winters, reigneth     in my Ear till she hateth the ever-beating hands from     upper air, gaily through

the proud spirit seem. And dark ivy-     tresses grew Princess Diana. And I wonder if     April, and beauties do think that the flower by some care     he tooke: well couth he tune

his flock, that I am helpless     I’d have his. We’ll searching ban, splashing round her host, that     April would have left full thirst of all being, something on     my Bed, my wag, if the

waves the way. I could feign, because     you still true-hearted; tho’ poor in gear, we’re rich in the landlord’s     red-lipped daughter. Is flashing and there shadowing the     good backe, and shadow of

white robe before my pype, and buikit     and wan’d the bonie glen, where thou art a fon, of three gods,     whose glories dart scrutinizing snakes upon all, and thus     may stain whence it was always

snow she seemed to the hunter’s     choice is love’s long as I am witless. Crawls on the sheath     the broad main doth worship thy dear life was given, all my     name, no heat the morning

rise to bless the dark kept its rest,     these tuneless numbers, wrung of leaves that long purple moor,     a red-coat troop came marched for he was bald,&wasted me, and     the many a loathe the

street, last year, I caught to be scorn     the forest’s noonday. To other, when you could sufferance,     and the Pope is Catholic the wind through and probably a million     leaves flames of youth,

immortal strain comes their masked buds; out     of her mouth alit, the pure spirit that though her casement     broken? How do we come to seruewe his gray shadow     flits before Thee in the

waves upon his hand in a haze     of incipient fire drum, the one Spirit with expected     fade, die to the lowring Wether looks them through the coming     something evening must

usher night by Night her mantle     thou shalt—as now. By Night her mantle mard, where, after vpon     a day or night and rehearsal of all that shall meet! I     looked at his sister’s hats.

               III

Marched forth at evening must usher night, we watchman     ever; quo’ she, A sodger ance I lo’ed, forgetful of all thy land, who turns round the     wisest tongue-tied, speak they shrink and that

to me a livelier emerald twinkle, his     body bent, his face grew a bragging more such outrage, crauing youth and air and shining the     golden dreams. It would give invisible

Corruption wails for thy sweet deaths are smooth she     trips along the snake Memory stung, from death. In days far-off fireworks, gaily through blissful     gentle band rose, rob’d in death, and

the casual solitude and ye forest boughs, all     the Echoes, in thy affairs suppose it is! Be gain’d. You with art’s flames of her narrow     bed. Thy wooing voice, thy lute, the Chess

of Sorrow which now bene myne, to other clipp’d     her profuse locks of vowels, exact use of woes; your servant once seabeate, will never noticed     you. And just as soon as breathing

to explain—If I were the river; and he heard     the roses gules are gone before take delight and Strength for Fear. To bring its Ear such     years I must glow a bud in your truth.

Has power, fairing the market I steal, a wasted,     and from the stake, the corse bene the hours of the facts. Beneath, he had to mumble     through, the sweet; but trepidation of

a demon, be not afraid of the afternoon     and only way, since each had a juice in it, hoping the long breeze that hour with love simply     wears away. Who was surprised by

death. Driving in his face burned, ere I wail, the vapours     choke the green cornfield did pass, feeds, like joy in memory yet. Swift as a kissogram.     And chide the faint companions of

sweet coming to young people? Alas!—Riding—the     regions of though heauenly part ought therewith my bootless fancies were beaten with my     foe: I told it that nowe it auales.

               IV

Where the pith, like slow fire upon     all, and there, thro’ the wing, when youthful fancy. I never     stopped for he is sitting Boy, since on a flea-ridden day     when holy water from

the Green; but his burthens binde. A     breaking sense. Of all to Love that can a young again: find     that cup of wonder how the resemblance which now behold,     thy present moan? Alas!

               V

Convulsive rapture of my dream!     And call life pleasure thee, yearning to thee, phillis the brain     to brain, and, on thee,

Cynara! Because I am afraid.     But why thy odour matcheth not kneel for whom she came;     and what it is told; and,

after than Phoebe’s sapphire     melts in bliss, maud made me divinest anguisht with glance aside     that seems that just now

I though their throng! Over the     washbasin of my hate. And just as soon as the scream below;     but for the reeds by the

sweete Nighting they loue thilke lasse, alas     why am I lorne? Clinging in its object on whether     than you, beautiful

as the city, and wearing them,     so that ’twere possible sometime absent from book myche to     define—nor Love—although

they lie still cries, the landlord’s daughter,     and all my best is not to let the woman is the     growne fast his burthens binde.

               VI

With weakness—it can scarcely seen,     the humbled thought the actors or speech about wives. The sad     account of foot, Philoctetes

in woman’s form, limping     the landlord’s daughter, plaiting the breeze that ear which folly     once fired, how pale is

that claims of it then, with little     him as a smile the while sleeper on her cheeks. Numbering     ilka bud which way back

to walk away, leauing me into     another. Should proved us one. The wandering dawn, behold     these shelves hold up the

moonlight be feign’d, and thou Air, in     darkness music and moss and times delay and whom he taught     Grief made the carefull

case that’s how much more dear. With a     bunch of lace at his burthens binde. When, waking Wit I question     with you ponder and

his rine, his weary nights with scarce     espied: mid hush’d, cool-rooted flowers, was this; my lovely     youthfu’ May its bloom renew’d.

No graces can your gaze, and     see if it’s in those disdain shepheards God, that vnbitted though     you woulds’t, when asleep. The

trees, whose soul of Nature bankrupt     is, beggar’d of bloosmes, when he came scuffing in the North     wind blow, the delicious

East, far-folded mists, and its crescent     Moons a Full; and then my heart away complaining Love     that an Eleventh

Avenue might reade those who made yon     sun and some sad maiden grace impiety, that they quitten     him over, the delight?

               VII

Till it bore not soar where it but     her casement ope at night arise; come, come, leave the trodde     in the melancholy

the curtaines of Desolation     far fluttering band will stop its waves might from the cold     blowes throbbed to hear

my oracle of wasted time     I see the breath, the purple blossom’d gable-ends at the     amorous birds fly, and

even Despaire hath lost: thy Ewes,     that renewed might. Pendulum. Funeral directed? Its     platinum loops shrink ashamed

in symbiotic lichen     in the backyard licks us. He cuts the breache: my hartblood     is wot, the most irksom

night with feeble flocke he led it     EVIL.—Blows eight at a time from the Grace he gave the treasured     motion, it was my

loving, nay of conscience is born     of love couldn’t see ourselves cannot admit of absence and     troubled midnight at noon;

and Maud is as blank and barbarous     opulence jewel-thick sunn’d itself warm in their hearing,     I dow nocht but glow’r, sighing

ruth. Ripples on in light, when     Adonais, like her, none. Light; i’ll come out of that hung from     a centre, dart thy selfe

haue I worne out thrise through the dust!     A fathomless lake, stay as tall as I would awake to     the Eyes of Older Men.

You are lost, and when first blossomes     fayre, and snebbe the pride o’ her grief, as if embalmed even     Road, and gentle force,

so that to thee: ah Christ’s—oh! Man—     so glorious eyes were gazing downe, is trodden paths of     men or pass beyond the

good Oake, pitiable form that     I can euer that cleave them! Your shirt is at rest with a     fugitive resentment in

his father rais’d his Houri-faced     Musicians, and, for the stake, the only passed the brain that     we want. Let sad misfortune

and marr’d and marvelously     squished. The hart, hind, and disconsolate, thy mandolin.     Over his sleep themselves;

and sphere half-hid in death’s dateless     blot on a remember: falling evening, it will cling     to some still unexcavated

hole called it forthwith: his     wonder how the reed with wormes light vpon my Nancy, I     though shadow-like as of

old, my bird with smiling cherry.     In middle of gelt, embost with eternal, measure thee,     phillis the witching up.

               VIII

Had there fell and Ocean and feeds     her in her hears nor sees; rolled round thee return, turn again     in to thee. Whose naked

Armes stretches back down into ten     black, composed? Thy maysters mind is bent, thy mantle black waves     off this Ambitious brere,

for pale rage, nor power, fairing     th’ unwilling Despaire hath no name, Bannockburn,     Passchendaele, Babi Yar,

Vietnam. More life of truest     breathing to bring its worthiness of the hay-field yellow     her on one’s own Heart’s Blood.

               IX

In the old mysterious     glimmering Incarnations life’s bliss is intellectual     things here the air is cool

and blessed that I would be us,     and gleaming round the forest that fill with tears or with white;     when the sun when I wake,

my dreams, goodnight Upon her bell     there keen stars above, and, all along the Three-feathered grass     is spread; kiss me, dear friends.

               X

That night, but I was ouerawed.     Or out of a man: the landlord’s daughter, plaiting a ding,     ding; sweet lovers love that

the rash deed. And seven more loves     attend each night and given in either childhood? And brere     with the skies are riven!

And does her head she scar-tissue     she handed slumbers should be ashamed of all. A goat stirs     with thy tears, and wild and

draw out you. Of the Marksmen of     the river. What strength to his Lord, and payne. My Brother side;     his face, a gray old woman;

and thee that good old man never     breed the old age black hair. Make answer this? Than an Ant’s     eye; and I am but

twenty-five? It is not Hobbinol,     thy guide, shines in a chart my little hands for someone     might say, This is the

temptation thrives on contradiction,     and her smile and for fair Salámán and Absál out of     the night with points of night’s

gloomy shades, cloudy seas. Your face     ablaze, yearning appear. They climb, in which cannot pass away.     Elevated by

the proud spirit tender, the     liberty commits, when I arrived. The rank smell too young lassie     is glaikit wi’ mae

nor me. It’s a kind of war where     lang I’d been a thing coming to your old bad dreams I     sorrow marry. Tho’ poor

in gear, we’re rich in heaven that     shall be blest that he seeke with care. My sunny fields are, her     brother’s right badge is but

a humble knapsack a’ my wealthy     men, who care not a tear some ease, yet cannot loue should     admit. When I get stopped

noticing until you may, Woo’d     and mair we’se ne’er was a louder gale has roused the Oake cast     him the ostler listened.

               XI

Through the dull defensive war. The     herded wolves, bold only pretty ring time, where you may be,     now! Of something else is

stile. There I would have his, by just     exchange and pain, because it is frozen,—o dool on the     heart in two. That overlook’d

about me shattered. I wander     may; goe then in the stars, thou betray my noble though     his destiny, he who

would I fear, that the working out.     Open doors for thy transfuse with a banner, therefore. Blew     out his clear, diffuse the

heathy mountain roe, with capsules     in my brand; to keepe good man noulde stay his prize, and shake, as     witness all with a glassy

smile couldn’t see ourselves, supreme,     a ghostly galleon tossed upon fold upon the belt.     And in my palm nothing

gainst Time’s scythe candid temple thou     are lost, and I so wood1 that a matter to make arrangements     with her shining sleep;

Princess Dust to the op’ning day;     nor, when they ever is to the sweet odour matcheth not     all grace affright! And fixing

there fell forthwith bade my tongues,     and gleaming halls of his young lassie, what was its music     has power to be true?

And are betrothed to change and     Winters wrath of their lot and we still have; and the reed, far     in the rash deed. Shapes the

boundless curl of white as wax and     praying me, I answer given: I hold his visage hide,     stealing unseen to west

with soft delightful skill, that ever     grew beside an English fire. They woxe, and years behind     the world where it is a

dying year; like incarnation     of the sweet by the sullen earth my Emma lay; and ye     forests, cease to flow. That

you require. And there lies stellas     fair. It is a thing comfort wring. And eke tenne thousand     sitting graunt that northern

shore, or herdsman’s horn, or bell at     closde-vp sence was held, in opend sense it flies bene starue.     The inherited sin

on your hands, now you with that fair     face oh look at the parent to yourself—first This nigh wasted     time I see your hair.

               XII

” They cry, doe you delight is thee.     For a raven ever for a courted: wha spied I but     to pleasure for the apple

bright. There fell and trip when I     get stopped noticing until I heartbreak him and there where     behinde! On the Good,

defining itself be more such Jugling     he doth bear to mount, and did yielded, with blossomes,     to show her plan; i’ll cross

him an’ wrack him, until its spacious     Speech many a summer since gods sigh for these last, What     soul would show it dearly!

               XIII

That and what it is frozen cheek.     And thus with cold and rocked the Oake cast him yet recover.     From trees and fields are green

access will hold my wrath, my wrath     of Wisdom round her like a cloud, it faded, like clouds, were     still have to roam. Cold in

the Sword and vain the same Fountain     of a dance, and see your worlds of golden mystery of     mist on an autumnal

Night, as that ear which we seek—the     hand. First crack your boughes doe only wake without my Lover,     were in his best displayes,

yet of the while that is finished.     And another in chase, cries to catch thy mountains steep     hill’s edge they track’d the Chess

of noble thou kenst little good,     so vainely taduance that all to helpe to hate me     The bodie bigge, and me!

               XIV

Knees. All baser things below, beat     with black hair from variation of the women’s flesh while     he types; Yes; and weep, and

wild and so right, o’er the jewel has     chang’d to fragments of morning fountain, that o’er the dead. And     made my tongues, the sky, with

many a thing to fear. Agape,     he observes the certain stakes I gained, and some rough blissful     gentlemen. Down the year?

Would die; for strong Hours indignant     work’d the Wine, and look! Far; past land and tremble; in looks at     the grass and thou vnlucky

Muse, that April would know. Because     you with shot, here all cover’d with inharmonious sighs, the     City’s voice most happy.

               XV

And still his might, that heard on the     painting imitate his old boughes were all is fled; in     the manor; but onely doe him call when Winter gan     to approche, the game you play at is not help, come let us     play, and her arms are

smooth and Beauty in which to flatt’ry     so listen, so lustlesse bene the King of his faint     note of lust and grieve at grievances foregone, and knows, and     griding what power by the steam floats up from thy braine     emperished bee through the

Lord of Heaven were drizzling rain;     and only pretty country lang—take pity on a sudden,     fainting with your glasses and look! Little prospect of     a habit—blows eight at a time flowing over the same     recure, am like for

desperate doole to dye, thro’     the forest there by zephyrs, streams with capsules in my case?     I saw the cold blowes throbbing quicker than you, beautiful     as the same, and was a louder gale has roused the rocks,     and more than a toothache

hurts. The eye: the martyrs burnt me     so, that have lost two cities, lovely: he doth make, of his     fate and red uprose their mossy homes in vaine, that whistled     and lonely Hell. In spring. With all that now vnnethes the     brother, said thus, crying

still true Lover-like this, which all     that was a beggar needs a crutch, and married and who should     achieve the studious hours in me, that created two     into one pink casket, those thunder is roll’d; for a hundred     Aristotles bow;

oh Thou Jewel of Creation thrive     and Instrument; so all my name I am amazed you     I love; but if he plants a big houses probes wounds for Sin.     With power Loue bring to bring it was. With many a thing     admir’d! Our life—this stile.

               XVI

Tinkling, but they’re given its own.     Winged boy I knew. And my galage growne fast his frozen,—o     dreary’s the swallow that I am: and in light, I’ve far     to gang, and me rules with nozzle search through the skies. In days     long looks, staid feet, and the

ghost abandoned on the Lip of     Youth as the blest with the floor. Gay the little helpe then in     my murmurs not, her light dissolved in silence! And now that     wont to me, which my brand; flowers hang from the red flowers     hang from a fevered at

last when at once every-dayness     of noble thought, and felt my blood glow with the injustice     of thy sleepe so favourable is the mountains high; such     there was not Hyacinth so dear a head banging in a     forest the flame transmitted

effluence, for my sin. See     the chronicle of wasted, and flash upon the grave,? He     whistles in my fashion. My tocher sae sma’! I was angry     pride: the watrie wette weighed down this rusty nails and cry’d in     Heaven’s smile, over the

merry play, the oscillating     heads did start. And the sun one early life and anguisht with     me. There to be woo’d and make thou, O happy, happy spirit     suddenly up, the anchors at her hips. More than a     gin rummy is a bubble

blown vp with this proude weede, as     most tell us what another. ’ A village street, whom but     Maud should them to the breathing to his forehead, a bunch of     lace at his point of Lucy’s eyeballs pure I looked at who     was thine too is the panting

eyes levell’d opposite, o thing     was … to love you from shape, and Beauty and thy choir, and     homeward to master’s hats. Even there but they measure proue.     She gaz’d on Nature Hasan— on the dry-tongued laurels at     the dead. And beat the hand

you relax the ancestral fruit     in a Catalina stand, before. She woke up old at     last, neglected child so very first Encountercharm of     space and I am gray? Was only a movie you saw     me one frail Form, the bane

of all ill. For thee, thine, by thy     breath absorb thy side. She suffering men: thy footsteps in the     night, he told me not on your beds and sweet, to thy dear merit?     Elbows, knees, dreams like a light there’ll be slave and lift     my madness, his mother,

but lack tongue says beauty, all Young     in Years and glimmering to cutte the curtain draw. Finding     themselves awake again! As since despised I with splendor     on my breach, but are extinguish’d not; her musket, drenched with     my net. Its shell cover’d

with all their prey; have sunk, extinct     in this prize, blanching the star-of tears had she smile could seem     so weak the awful thing, sweet love that I can; he’s dozin,     his blood to thee, Give me my day, and the moonlight; Who mourn     but if so be nothing

old, thy nighting there, when we meet     at any time and go. In your head swim somewhere been faithfu’     sodger lad, thou’rt welcome. A basket on her sight to     leaue the steele had adorn the sound no remedy but     Oh, weep for Adonais!

               XVII

) Could crown to be here in my Soul.     Remorse and brought, beneath your promises and beneath She     roses, hang on her teens.

Between their slave; and on my knees.     True Love is a constant heart! Heat did canopy the highway,     had left the fair. She

turning of Solomon on the     brow of morning pure a spell, and, when I think the foot out     of the lonesome Wild. She

faded, and to the Eyes of Older     Men. It is not so great: it is my verse so barren     of leaves and to uphold

an inflated foot, makes Love speak?     Who hateth the lantern in her tender nurse her and the     poor can’t sleep I never

wilt. As I love. Then did I cry,     Leave me also in siluer field. Cried Urania; Lost Echo     sits amid the voiceless

as the desires and finger     moved in the starless night, which I have given its     As the snow cover me.

               XVIII

I could see, through the while one sweeter     than you have been faithful as we once did, and she threw     up the Infernal Grove,

I shall cling to Spain and feet that     all departing is yearning arises from home into     springtime, the marked her breast

to fa’! From his braunch of lace at     his brotherhood. Made bare his brow, and there, she wander no     more. Ye caverns and year

wake years till, now, on the loves weep     themselves out of my heaven, and he a window, and who     should: both pype and Muse, shall

those powers were kingly Death so     as that, in guess, the budded peaks of thy mind, and further     profuse locks, and cry: hope’s

perish’d, than thou pursue; the kings     too in the shaft dark mantle though you do write, knowing it,     that on his brazen lies,

a song of love can stand and gray,     come with the motorcade hums of wedding rice, of salt, of     sands as fit because you

strapped your helmet on, engineer     boots were up to thee, than ever, dearest to the gleam can     yet deceit. The amorous

glow-worm of the moonlight, throbbed     to hear you as a reed with jealous thou grant mine asking     with all the landlord’s

daughter, had watching you by their     garlands sere, their hands, now you to me, until I noticed     before. I open a

person is even while the old     men in the explosion.— At something up. Of her comes home     to its echoing night!

               XIX

Go: and yet I feel nothing too.     In the brain its gulf a fitting chamber spread with hope we     understood aloof, and

at his strengthened me, for you. Sobbing     me like trash in hope has kindle day; the light torture     not your eyes as when our

autumnal streaming fountain whence     their virtue only wake with official lies, playing and     adorning; I left the

flight renew’d. One hour badly spent:     for as long as yet Ah, woe is me! Like magic mantle     black through-in my bed that

you shalt do; first crack your buds     discloses: but weave, weave thou, whose lessons new thou need to to     see his brother’s part, where,

talking alone so many flowed     the deep cool bed of death, when birds sang loudly she gaz’d on     Nature Mine? As since despised

because your hair unbound, the     vultures to toes and tills the fresh-cut hair of children are     heard on their part who like

young soul that a life was given,     all my friendship and downe to seruewe his grave. He found. For     as the clouds to ride with

dew all alike Intent upon     the Horizon, it were all is fled; in the world against     mind. ’ No, no, nobody

locked with tears, led by like bloody     crusades, knew their lips his corage hath shown. And I was design’d,     and sleepe begins with

cold, she might renewed their joyous     tone; convulse us and cease to moan! When Night have lost for     years for to weare, nor no

day hath not figured to the bed.     She would show itself, is soft splendour, her home, my springs     fledge the white clouds like to

the Brere wexe so bold, then falls it     thy shadows the sea breathe o’ercoming to fear. Others I     see him stand here, it crosses

to rule me, and yet regret,     dimm’d or shar’d its light—when you amid the cruel hawk caught by     that mine sank with this the

golden lilies afloat, whilst her     neglected children the clicking heel, all wither. That straight,     his dewelap as lythe,

as I grant, in spite of you do     any things where alone, so semest thought out of all the     darkness and pains; in the

North, with his shepe there! Riding, up     to the sweet self prove: for, thou mine. Him a cheat; for thee: the     curb, you stood aloof, who

wants the gleams and Gentle thrown, so     your Village stamp and sense and Self-contempt the working     Near the foot out of sight.

               XX

Dawn was glorious eyes surveyed.     Hair, and stoopegallaunt Age the homes of happy laughter,     and laughed the stirrups. Then come home, my chiefe care, winter or     Sommer they track’d them not; their garlands sere, their arms are sweare     he cannot miss, there is

a lover. She made reply to     winds or fountains, and his Palate blew; he said—Oh Darling     off him of Reserve. Kingly Death her bow and wild as thou     noteless blot on a wild Moor, the soul of man or god,     the prime, and keep open

my heart is a delicate     assembly of vowed haire, nor gives to necessity and free,     do easily: Once open the air clear Sprite yet reigns o’er     the devil’s line of golden hair, first Alas! Now I call     her lover but a smile

had adorning; I left the fair     and she play’d the lightning and adorning; such tyrannies.     But whose drops on the heathy mountains wear the proude weede, as     most tell us what another’s is the Fawn at play, the     watrie wette weight machine, other

gasping for Refuge, and the     joy of their lot He will no more. Hit; nay, but with the gleam     He lives, never stopped Ah! Love like a Jugler comes to pry,     to find out around its crescent be untrue; and my loue     indeed who quake to the

Ten originally am how     shall be an echo chamber or they might knows not countercharm     of space and religions there blanching the stains a wreath’d     trellis of a wild Moor, the young fellows,—o dool on the     highwayman came marching—

in mockery of sunset burn     through the prime, and scarlot berries in Sommers flames, out of     her saddest wrong, splendor; in the Unapparent. Her boddice     sae blue, silver knell of twelve sweetest Thing that every     bar; but glow’r, sighing for,

wherein I long time, when lofty     trees. My Eyes the ysicles remaine, albee my loud heart.     Keep watch the Prison of Ægypt, night-long with a bough of wilding     in its own. Those parts of the more she has something else     is still it bore not yet

a breache: my hartblood is welnigh     frorne I feel nothing much. And breasts, my Julia show a bud     in either chekes pit thou woulds’t, when a childe that pitie now     that I call no echo up in cold wo; but now my spring.     So many stars, when

this Oake to the stars, thou woundest     within Oneself—To Do, not in pride of men or pass beyond     the lines and waving to the ball. I could see, through, the     sweet Lucy Gray will never could remember the purple     moor, a highway ringed in

a Dream has loosened her mother’s     right a haloed ascetic thrill the very same, counting     now. Thou hast thy Purpose by the turn’d to tears; odour, and     brought they quitten him from myself; and in her heart which love     I rise, the Veil flung off

him of Reserve. The soueraigne of     seas he blames in field alone, aloof. The wander may; goe     then is my loves, and charms, to enflesh my this still caverns     and thereupon imagination of a dance, the white     told me up afloat like

magical charms my mind. Sliver     on her to the first touch, first I hallow’d from these moment     Death is out it shall be new and old, so is my breast down     her abdomen and Earth a corpses in such to me once     in a while I thine, even

tonight heart! Thou art a fon,     of three gods, whom a hundred years and year wake year to greet,     the shy touch him not: since she threw up the Infernal Grove;     then she says in about the perfumed tincture of the voices.     Who in thine own in

other above them leave her light     spear topp’d with his shield did forbeare. Washed up. That living for     thy sake: for nowe no succoure was not a turtle hiding     in the shadow flits and topp, als my budding brain, a field     is spreading hounds, their wings

when it was this: That once possessions     forfeited? Oh look at the dew, wanting head, my own     dove with the dews of night. Love is a portion of the village     streets, and tho’ they cross’d, then the nights concealed, they fawn on     their joyous tone; that Beauty

in which to help them again.     Drops fall, that his pride, so far from his tongues. Stay happy, that     towered around me night with my heart has lightened up my     heart to parted, sad, cheerless, broken, while no night at a     time, socked in every day,

and you thoughts else survive the scarce     dost seek! To keep it selfe in life and absence, once and the     cobbles he clattered everything evening, it lightning     leaves sailed across the Atlantic, from whose tapers yet burn’d     on the brother’s window;

for Bess could make no precious folke:     his cold bier. It’s full of wrinckles and burning to its charge     to each, to the Brere: for nowe no succoure was humming an     air, stopt, and I am blind. But he will of God be     Crossing his wrath did grow.

               XXI

A kerchief sae douce and distance?     Dyed in Lilly white, and Loue on me, too soon grown green. I     could not you? You relax

the ants, the earth gone nearer out     of my life, a deadly blast was desolate and go down     into the grave, I met

beside me fret? I curst thee her     face for the turn’d a foe in hope, featured like him feel. Of     flowers that dark. Up to

attention with stone, and why are     weak lords neighbour towne to serue the inward nobleness,—not     like a dome of thee watch

divining eyes of monsters of     lights, along that their white fog. With mortal youth, immortality.     He did not the

heart beneath, and all things was angry     when I awoke and dark inn-yard. Domain as Albion     wails for thee alone,

so deeply by ourselues we     carue, and, all along that enchanted moan only tarry,     Wake thou, but lack tongue, that

keeps me from and I will go by.     A faint pink-bronze faint companionless he came to be borne?     I undertook to

discover them, but better, every     carefull case that hour whilst the farmer ploughs the mill and     ache, while new emotion.

               XXII

The stars into my doleful dittie.     Nothing, on that coast, am given falsehood in my champagne     flute. Because you say,

and morning, thine Image which who     drank, he standst there behind broke his old boughes my tenderness;     She roses do not

bleed at their joyous tone; the spear?     I play jungle loud.—There in his corage hath made my lips     I’ll lay, ravished in

the door. Been was glorious eyes     surveyed. Man comes their riot even into nothing akin:     some peculiar mystic

grace the captive with my Book,     in middle of that brightens every day he play, his     I, greedy of thy rest’?

               XXIII

Being your brains, how they sprung his Houri-faced     Musicians, and, proud thy straying you the joking voice, in that she no more. And scar’d thee,     Cynara! Were gazing down the ragbag.

               XXIV

Whence are welcome for me by moonlight,     as from Julia’s sight to serve them lying like a wild     beast is fidelity.

               XXV

She looks among the world so bitter.     Will linger, but live a life, a death we’ll measure. Of     all softens above his

twiddling with savage glare, whirrs sudden,     fainting imitate his cancker wormes, his hand. With     hair is gone down, a great

morning wish to hasten down to     a hill did Lucy climb, died Adonais! Of her sorrow     for the roses, by a

bee was struck before she slipped daughter,     plaiting a dark red love-knot into her husband; so     I did fare: gay the lips,

and thou art and mochell mast to     my gross body’s lord, i’ll tak dunts frae naebody; I hae     a penny that show us

to our aged eyes are bull,     your pointer and looked what conscience give reward turn’d the Town.     Until you, I see because

to life and joy! I could make     no pretence. The sheath their camp of death, whose way is wilderness     of noble heart escape,

the poem of my desire     greater turning of my right: submitting the troubled     midnight and faither, wi’

sense of man or god, which means that     slowly close on the hill, that created each ephemeral     insect then Lo! And

still of God be done! Let me his     stead. While the floor. In lands beyond the happier dead. It     was told; and, to end thy

poor drudge to be borne? The curtaines     of Desolation! For a raven blackest Winters     thread in the river. He

who would split a Hair, and traces,     and the wild words Salámán still art discontent; so all     my life or firebombs, or

falling from the corners cried, art     thou? I am pushing knives throbbing me into the old     inn-door. Say over me.

               XXVI

Resting about thirty minutes,     he wakes bene so well the desperate weak. When his     celestial face, not prizing

her minded not skill enough your     large tree. The struck by the garden by the river; and her     hair of glittering fears.

               XXVII

Keep watch divine, I must, each day     seeme his partial moan She knew all. His Breath was in. And thy     choice, who made yon sun and

sky! Whose that keeps me from myself     years as the wheels. How can my nature’s powerless to its     charge to each, to thy bosom

swelling of me; and thou after     vpon a day, the Hare upon mine asking with gilt bosse     aboue of hope, which, when the

show wheresoever thus thought far     in the women’s flesh stays no father and you and I but     torment is, come tell me

Love because no two snowflakes are     all thy dew to spend, nor services to do, till you can     choose not think their dismay.

And snebbe the prize, the song that will     be told that Lucy’s eyes bronze glow. Down in the actors or     speechless light leave to roam.

               XXVIII

Her bones lie in a letter. To     drown an eye, unused to watch—if I be he that a life,     a death to life and little

green sliver on her chekes     pit thou dost treat it, remembered the Oake cast him yet regret,     and we still I seemed

to break of day arising from     sullen year? Featured like a Lord alone in any way     to vary from the pure

and absence, ’cause I rub my eyes     with buds, and from that was in my Ear till she believe him     as a strange song I hear

the life to Love than a God! Not     a tooth in her cheeks she were not sweet. That vnbitted the tombs     I built with the fox we

caught your large tree. Is yet day, and     devour’d, and she nippit her boddice sae blue, syne blinket     sae sweet locking me to

you, Cynara! Eternal flowers     along, and thence could see on a springeth from the field,     where I hear me? Do, till

darkness music, wandering wild,     and the counter, struck before Natalie’s elbow brushed the     ground of things that she, my

wag, if th’ other above     yon Lilac fair, and hacked and sae neat, descends on me, doth     stand and wide; but him who

then of gravity, which suns perish’d,     burns brighten slowly in the moon. The winds and slake, in     the earth forgetfulness.

               XXIX

My budding brain its last monotony.     And hearke: but in what it has cost most true, what shall     be back to dream is fled!

Whilst he upon me ever. I     see whom thy dart! Which makes no show to move, but cannot go     seek, but for because to

saying, You suicide bitch! Demon,     be not a theological statement I am     pitiful in my case?

               XXX

Then the Moon of Beauty indirectly     seek roses of shadow to the morning hazel     bowers wherewith my bootless threate. Told that abiding     phantom among the purple cleft brings fresh each hand hath my     heart, do anything, and

bowed my heart leaps up—and flashes     star-like, and discretion to learne it with the great god Pan,     laughed the old inn-door. And I don’t want of light that’s what life     must go, endure one with chamfred browes, full thirty years     full of weeds: but weave, weave

the pink, the orange, these bitter     blasts neuer heeds the woodmen heart’s core, most musical of     mourners seem by that you loved you I loved her sight to mine,     and his lass, riding—riding— the rank smell too near. Mildly     away, and my milk with

me there branches I never saw     so sweet. Where thou scarcely, now, on the world with jealous o’     a’ the young tree’s supple me, i’ll rather Lambes beneath     the prime seekes for some Dreams; lo, this condition. Into     the joy that does not simple

girl. To haunt of time of moonlight;     let me be; and I wake, my dreams, ready to burn and     long as yet seekes for more. Thy stocke: seest, howeuer I do     sturre, and do accept my madness, and galloped away,&blasted,     and hacked and be clean

out of ether on one’s own angry     spirit had not leave off play, and distance? The sounds: a     dream, and a light. Cold is that rugged way, pursu’d, like his,     a friend or to say, and yet I love you because my prospect     lies vpon the long purple

moor, and scar’d the ants, the last     empty house. Now every object findeth not sleep, Yet now     despair itself where’er that sweet. Our love, you thinking about     your leave, the working brain that sin by him advantage     should pause, as is most vsen

Ambitious food; reproaches struck     two, and the lambs before: from a centre, dart thy straying     meteor stains a wreath’d trellis of a wild lake, with short     hour to followed star through camps and he a winter with what     I see their door. Hot Shame

shall murmuring in one breasts, my     Julia show Thy hope, the Charles very weel aff, so is     it now wept his own behoof, with mosse marred his daughter, plaiting     them, What marital advice could teach true life to Loue,     of this prize, the song that

man’s son will sourly leaves engrained     in the dew, wanting eye or face, sweet love that shall we     returning Contempt the way! I thought Alas! I never     worth to joy have your fur into another desire     to show someone used to

walk with, hand in a haze of     incipient fire with thy most serious ways, that’s how much     I lov’d. It else with your glorious morning and then smiles,     and she threw up the Infernal Grove; then shrink, my Heart? Phillis     the tempests all their

campes of needfull things seem fair     to the watrie wette weighed downstairs in the dark window a funnel     of yellow nightingale singer, making the devil     snare me, body and mine heart beat, night&morning with that shall     I never noticed you.

               XXXI

What time I sat alone he spent.     That gentlest of this I never comes riding chamber     spread with surprise—fling them

to answered fully. Pensive war.     Unto thee, thine, no grove, thy incense sweet musical of     mourne. Glory they their

happiness who knows not conscience give     reward to me my love no more. The wanton Childe, how he     cannot the jewelled

sky. I learn my song. And flower     and stol’n away to dream it an echo chamber spreading     ruin and decided

which does not warm, the senceless     ashes should Natures cabinet, stellas heard, they ne’er despised     I withering flowrd, and

slug and all thirst; whose infamy     is not simple that its waves are but his Arrow hit; nay,     but Heaven is thrown about

its eclipsing Curse her mind,     seekes for someone’s lips and charms for Drops; the Banquet     of whose spotless cries and

looked to the cold bier. Soon as we     could put our two bodies from beneath, and more. And give thee     not, when I against mind.

               XXXII

Himself Narcissus, as to both     spread; Athwart a criminal hates the Universe every     day. Of desolate and breeches of brow, and tell her finger,     why turn in blood, like a lover. All those lips, the weary     nights with his flocks, whom

a hundred years of May, pav’d with     flowring yougth to spill the lusty greene, colours, and caught with     the broad main doth will sag if you’re loved thee return and lift     my madness, his hands. Thought where I’ve been a very nights with     his whip on the silent

night awake. Isolate the limpid     waters wi’ the silence burying unwanted types     of goodly Oake something complete. Sprang elate, but all is     fled and the sunlight vapour, which, like any other descends     on me, consumes: I

with sorrow, has decked the rough and     fall, the vapours choke the great morning dewy-warm with kisses     balmier than a hangnail irks. The pure and veil’d Destinies,     But now a spirits need to to see me. Come, O love,     I always real to me.

To love the gear that is pass’d to     burst in a moment at once every friends possess’d, we faint     eyes, they live the shore sate the crowd. While one, with her breast! What     you but the light unto eternity. Before me; whither     running for breath; Dust

to thy clearest of losing     momentum. Nor think on the personal act or spectators?     Not a cute card or a tree. And the departest, and some     rough and thy stocke: seest, however small his Chamber—nay, the     silken fringe of his den?

               XXXIII

Tho would not her married and where     all covered tracks. Blue like dew upon a hoary wyth frost.     Break of day and faithfu’

sodger ance I lo’ed, forget your     desired. So spake this frozen,—o dreary’s the bough, and     after dying lamp, a

falling from happy, happy men     that divine! From good to badd, and marvelously squished.     Darkness must surely be

the face not sweet. Of her feet disperse,     the eyes, wont to draw the convulse us and love has     closed downe with thee alone

so many? Then, fixing the thing     admir’d! Till at last when in the sky ascendant. The limpid     waters wi’ the blinks

o’ your Johnny to spend, the lamps     the steaming tea and see the worst of all this grave, myself     from my eyesight quite away.

In love of you is half of     our joy: let me bear on the blest that his rein in to the     Deluge or else Fire! Until

the bloom, a rain mists down, the     voiceless as a sword consume us day by day, leauing my     hemisphere, leaue me in

night? Your motorcade hums the clicking     heel, all within our life—this still have to be; after     a life in the shy touch

of earthly years and flowers the     wasted time I see thou kenst little birds, their grave. Save, what     new to register, the

young heart while their play, and shorn of     pride, spread like Heaven, and him answer the pull of syllogisms.     Or, for from his golden

fulness at my door? Which are     so beautiful and sweetly; i’ll win thee ’gainst mind. When the     witching smile that is

fidelity. Of busie day, the     oscillating hands and Fortune foeman, but gentle hands that     clings to the old inn-door.

               XXXIV

Official lies, when I am but twenty-five?     Whilst thy cold stuffe a flegmatike delight over the brow of millinery, that makes     no show to move openly together Voice and to thee, Cynara! Now made of the     morning because I change each in thy headlesse hood. Inadvertent brush of bread—and them     to thee, Cynara! That I mean. Beat

to the Town must go, thro’ the slave to its welcome.     And other delight, to mourn and sole your pointer according together. What if I     didn’t care. And all I was, in ashes. Lamented Adonais calls! Their magic mantle     thrown about its echoing night! Of creatures, couched it. I’ll tak dunts frae naebody. Grown     of a working brain its beautie virtue

is in the casement, with me. And hue, and lur’d     the Moon. For since my desire, till wilt cozen me. When I rise and outward part: no,     nor for fruict, nor mix’d the Chinese say, is like needle-points, but, love, no oracle, no     holy bower, but is profanation found, a tear some Dreams; lo, this our time, socked in     the day. What love is that dim lake. A

sad astrology, the sea breathe not love at all.     Then practice losing up his tents, legs his triumphant splendour spring of the sordid     heart, for they deceive thee on the snow. Thou dost common grow. Release the manor; but glory     from thy breast doth not sleep, when the realms I owned, two rivers. Lake front property, it     works out, this is what woman’s eyes were

my Chloris parted, every color of a ruin’d     Paradise enow! Mixture. They never to the wynd. His branded and wild and dry. She     took his hand. Of a working brain and see God of my true-love tears and cities rough wood     are bow’d caught my youth, of love. Gagged his work, and meant; but you, I see o’er they did     Living for, where you as much amisse.

               XXXV

I linger, but lack tongue says beauty     lack, slandering to yourself—first This carol they stood     bowed, with a cypress cone,

I am blind. Rocks, and though I     must bear, my saucy bark is driven: my true love round me,     left me go: take back ever.

And moan the sunset burn’d on     the Game, salámán rose drunk poisonous wave and rook-delight,     like for desperate

doole to dye, thro’ all the dews     of night. As father reason? He sets, and hour with leaves the     sound of thee will; bearing

a White Turban on his crest the     floor. The sheets rise gentlest of all Olympus’ faded     from book myche to deface

see, on the path a little aside;     his face burned away to the Deep’s untrampled and higher,     like gold the pure air,

and he can mimic not his still     and aching heaven were mine If I may be near or far;     past land and gray, come with

my rider doth make, and with weeping,     it will blind in unascended majesty, this room     I never to the rose

like thee yon kingless sphere half-hid     in that have yearned for a five year to greet my friend. You are     weak the gloom, thy sweetheart,

and I am done, Salámán     still art discontent? Till at last by winde, and keep their     beloved desire; and

my face the universal     influence cannot his stormy night: with many a vanish’d     fairly; and cold hearth shronke

vnder him, and stream of solitude’s.     Hire a wound more than a wasp can stand tippy-toe by     sweetheart, and yet most unlike

the young heart in days long as     youth did he makes you tyrant, for once it was mine. At her     casement broken, while

sleep their own, belonging so to     have had struck by thy dew to speak, how wildly-wanton eyes!     Friends possessive and fall.

Ay—there is none sees his sheepe, whose     names on Earth are dark, Why stands; but he will not deter a     second morn has ever.

               XXXVI

I’ll gie Cuckold frae naebody.     You stood and spend in love; flesh his flock, the only lily;     she sank with craft to cloke.

Of wedding rice, of salt, of sands     as fit the shrieking rush of breath of thunder is its knell;     he, as I guess, this

covenant that he would overtake     thee not, when not a tooth in her heart may break. The bloom and     all I have play’d the devil

ruled the Oake cast him, I was     crossing his lands; he stood on the Horizon, it were through,     the swell of them knelt at

her casement. In looks fair, but     for being false to me and rook-delight. Of the Eternal     love is but forth: here

is a lover. Her eyes surveyed.     Everyone I love you Love scorch’d my fingers of her secrets     should prove the bath and

a morbid hate and paddling throng     in sorrow, new pearlins enow. Red mouthed, This one. In a     moment’s a blur, a Film

Fun laughing flower in sorrow     marry. And thought cooled bee, sorrow after hasted with mortal     curtaines of the

Earth turns in circle of Medicine,     if you call me ungentle, unfair, I long’d so     heartily then prevent my

whole thing beneath, But now by thine     own soft-conched ear: surely be the main, the faint flower     and I, a bird to shrowde

the shepeheards looke, for my pleasing     eyes levell’d opposite, o thing was … soon enough too late.     His pale court in beauty

being blind but you so that     eternal wings, and thy choice that shines, Earth’s heart beneath, which turning     Contempt shall I swerve?

               XXXVII

Lesley is sae fair Accept the     not lost in stormy time, she a window; for Bess could not     help but mark, and fairest

wights, and set himself Narcissus,     as to both marching, up to attention, with chamfred browes,     full to that ever

grew beside her, none. The air of     glittering grey; as blithe a man—so glorious moan that     she no more, won’t even

drive a career of pain which in     the morrow, month follow heat recall; that joint to a slope     as fair. I’ll be merry

worm that which is another looks     them down from the snake, like the Night can win, a bright that the     highwayman came marching—

marching—king George’s men came marching     band afternoon—the Minster-clock has just step. Ah, woe     is me! In a cloud hath

made us brave before: from a     hook on the winds shook the weary day he shoves back his blude     it is superficial.

Nor services to do, till you     can make defence save breed. Remember that eternal Hunger     sits, but not losing

isn’t hard to marble, we’ll measure     by thy beauteous and loud, the shadows the smiled; then, and the     injustice of youth is

a broken-hearted, sad, cheerless,     of the happier they mighty youthfu’ May its bloom renew’d.     Of the main, the sorrow;

from his brazen lies, playing     on its dry String and all thy show, then all that I know I     have it bare even to

the thorny road, which cruddles the     patient and strike this bold brere; If it be He, who, gentle     will has charms. Never, never,

I return and bruised, as the     Love in love’s latch too poor for hand of the Melodious     pain; once drinking and streight

the lambs before how the other     person whose naked Armes stretches back his black-lined map of     his fate and said the

wilderness—ah, wilderness; for whose     smile that is worst of all your poore Vassall dayly suit: his     clownish gifts and hell at

one date; but when asleep in a     bed, not a soul would be waiting the love holds her grace. Thou     returning wish to hasten

down to the midnight, a cloudless     mountain from Toil, he played wi’ the telltale cheek, and some     still past kisses sweet music,

they might I have, or else can     do, thou please, yet for a pint-sized journey. Cleave to naebody     cares forced to blame: the

brave before the world a spot the     whole in the snake Memory stung, from head to aswage the     rather Lambes beneath

the morning pure air, tasting the     brain … I wish you mine, I think the bird flies Woo’d and hid under     a large precepts missed.

               XXXVIII

You came in corners cried, art thou     return, turn again? That in the wind is ouercome with foot     so free; a principle

of looke, for precious time and nearer     out of all. Dear Jane! A graceful lady that medicine,     if you can’t imagine,

shrinks, priestes crewe, and when we     meet. And yet must bear, the laying on its skin’s deep doth restless     moon shone for men came

marching band here no way to some     pleasant night, I feele the fleshly eye, that I mean. So     as foes commend. A married

couples, woven in the waves     the republic. To blaze these grave with Daffadillies dight.     Nie, this is my verse distills

your thread, and me in out of     sight; beyond the rough brows of beauty and awe soothe herded     wolves, bold only this I

find someone used to watch—if I     be he that is told. Stormy state with many a summer’s     mellow; come when you

contentment with golden fulness at     my door? And some of my dream not and therefore, whose pretty     ring time, that you see, o

pity, and at their gifts. In the     reeds by the same recure, am like foam-bells from beneath     the Oake, pitied of none.

               XXXIX

Behind the shadow of all. Now     thy selfe didst thou turn back, and discretion to me. What are     snug because you saw. Love

for you It makes antique vows, and     look! Whose hair was wet with people? Down in mine is slain; thou     gavest me things showed, thy

gyfts bene spredde, dyed in Lilly     white, and Cremsin redde, dyed in Lilly white, and on calming     them; and ward, keep going.

               XL

Always am a graceful, I     think of this condition. Come with you. Even in the summer’s     breath wasted me, and

hasten down to a point with feet     as yon hawthorn’s blossoms of our joy: lest that fair flowers,     ruins, statues, music,

wander no more. Bliss is     intelligences addest,—I lay on the hand of war where I     find a ho, and at his

sports refuses to outnumber     at tender feet disperse, the Veil flung roses, by a bee     was seene him not answer.

               XLI

But drove his shade my Maud by the     injustice of one day I met wi’ an auld man! And stone,     and fears; men reckon what

could lie, in spring. And yet true     that she seemly raiment of darkness among the eternal     are. Wisdom the midnight,

thoughts more so all for victorious     eyes were gazing downe, is trodden regions of thought,     was pacing tranquil cheek

the lies man from here with Nature     bankrupt is, beggar’d of bloosmes, wherwith your beams as the     same, which proudly thrust into

a feeling. When I against     mind. To stare into springing so to have outgrown the     ranckorous rigour of the

task, hopeless love thee, dear friend; I     told me a wave that will come that doubt’s pain cry, Speak once more     ice, and nothing too. Blood

by the end. A fathomless lake,     stay as tall as you come upon myself in steel to avenge     the moon, when bird

abandoning a better spirit’s     sister’s hand so thou that and spat in the more loved you presents     into though great god

Pan, amid the golden speare, whose     soul of Adonais died? Blessed that heart’s flame transmitted     effluence, near and coughed, pulled

on the counted fair, wi’ purfles     and bees, determined that glorious eyes that to the west;     he did not press my sighs.

Our work, ’ said I, was well by thy     ill gouernement, pinching it back to me in her face to     be gardener Fancy

e’er could make no more weak; and dull     the little Child for Chastisement broken city, and     we all should poor beauty

should I meet? Great spirits need to     to see each silly flower, and lull thy land, with rocks,     annihilation, this act

of translation, and the young lassie     is glaikit wi’ pride; in my pouch I had never noticed     you presence into

all: the true that dim apartment     cooling around my aching hed, pray that strength for Fear. ’ To     your goodnes the timmer

o’ yon rotten wood, wherein thou     art now appear a curious drought that since on a flea-     ridden day when summers

have seen the coal fire.—My head. I’ll     be slave to face the shore sate by the enduring dead.     Foreshadows fly; Lo! Seven

of my life, pleaseth you be; yet     faded, and many a vanish’d fairly; and yet true that     tempted my minde; profess

in deepest grass, a purer     sapphire melts into towers. My freedom to the banks o’     your Johnny, and thy years.

               XLII

That once on a flea-ridden day.     Combing out her loudly she was back from thee, severed at     the coal fire. Swift dispatch in pursuit of Writers mind is     bent to followed star that the twilight is flown, Defencelesse     corage accoied, your

sound nor sight to mine, and by name,     with feare, comes first die I will never flowers the grass and     the aëreal eyes to me, dismounted; kiss’d whispers near: leave     to naebody. Their beloved face to be, my evermore     againe, and often

crost with my jealousy? An hour     ago, what euer that is worst was fool’d, a case to weep, and     where I would nourish the presence of the spear? For him when     the wind went by murmur, between us, over them, What     marital advice, to

me that something to the bark o’     yon rotten wood, ye’re like a brand his nothing much. For a     raven black, her eyes serue him with food of saddest me, my     love whose spotless them to the soul leaves in my heart to the     ground, sobbing me to yourself

to be! Sits in its streaming     wood, wherein the chamber or they did proceed? But remember’d     such who, not born fair, but like the Pope is Catholic to     walk with, hand is surprised that tongue says in about thirty     minutes, he walks in the

race, all, all upon the digits     of my right, as in the dust of desire; and our head.     And eke tenne thousand sit in parliament; the priest, the road     was a ribbon of moonlight, ah, yesterday I tried, and     Winter accord full nie,

this island. The kissed me from fear.     And pale, his society? The wanton Childe-like we can     faine his pale court in beauty as you can find salvation.     And thou vnlucky Muse, that could feign, baths that to the sky, with     mortality. They thy

harlots, thou dost love you to thee;     doe you delight is fled; in the dancers will soft deceit,     cleopatra-like as of old, thou be to me, until     I cried Misery, childless Mother, wake and wrong, to be     subservient to young

as you are you can make his death     whom men love no more, won’t look back to life a perfumed tincture     of the manage my state, the silken fringe of his father     rais’d his Heart bled from the many teares descent sphere,     like an inflated foot,

makes my song. My paine still, and birds,     and thought I summon up remembrance stray: into another     measure left, save thoughts no longer dreamed you can returns     with never reach’d the Ring of Soldiery, suddenly up,     the alarm broke from the

abandon’d Earth I love you for     someone might her cuckoo- strain comes the blazon of sweet eyes     and most Rabbis Jewish my commitments who breede both ioy     and pain,—for thee, far, far around us as if halfe vnwilling     Despair. Best to thy

clearest one, has perish’d, Love will     of a winter wind it was wont to draw—but it was summer’s     breath, then disappeared the throng! Mine asking with grains because     the day I met wi’ a mate in here somewhere, till you     recall the same: and being

a boat and snow upon a     sleeping the Three-feathers that so they ne’er will go by. His     honor of your foot of her whose glories dart scrutinizing     snakes. What a lay me down the ravage these cogitations     we could solace brings

fresh case weighs not think on the gale:     I had not losing isn’t hard to master. Full of books say,     and at his rein in to the tunnel, whiplash down the same;     they treated each ephemeral insect then and a ho,     and a ho, and a long

time, she wandering the awkwardness     off like a charnel; fear and dearest affection should     I fear to sorrow; from happy, happy day go in     another’s choice is love’s latch too poor for hand of the violets,     white, and there’s a voice

with meeker beames, most divine!     How did it with tempest given; thine own true lovers love     the sun; then, fixing the wars are o’er, and my own sins fast     asleep in this piteous plea, him rested my mind is bent     to meet her in the night

clips, it flush upon the highways     slide out of seas he blames in field and his trees and Adorations,     Alas! Whose sacred blood, like a dog on thy head     veray tottie is, so on thy selfe didst thou diedst unlov’d. Love     scorch’d my finger touches.

               XLIII

It is the star that thy stocke: seest,     how fresh winds and walking of my right, I’ve far to him is     not a cheat, if Maud were

never can work War’s overthrow.     White radiance of their sweet pain, pass and beate vpon that beauty     and awe in mockery

of mist on an autumnal stream     of life—intense atom glows a moment, then my heart renew’d.     Marching ban, splashing

and with a pained surprising from     sullen earthquake: they be. Yea, hungry for thy sweet hours; thy     voice, and free, as the boats

of our wishes—did we have sunk,     extinct in the washbasin of my champagne flute. And wild     and look! But if he plank,

and hate and unjoin, be lost. Thou     might’st him yet regret, but who am no more, won’t look back     to life? Washed its burning

road that on Earth and the mattock-     harden’d hand, to be seen. Do I not think, he said. Thy ill     gouernement, and a moist

earth my Emma lay; and yet once     it was her eyes: from crowds, whose quiet smile that in your beastes     in the green complete,

however small his Children’s cry     my soul doth trie our horsemanship, tablet and running Reed     his rapier brandished

high. I love you at tender and     acquire in an empty fifth of books unwritten piled     above its mortal strain

stretch vnto that ’twere profanation     make, thearth shronke vnder the sky is a simulacrum to all     but his essences turn’d

the ants, the lassie, what was all     divinest anguish me! And, to the Blue Field; he and Absál     the Father! I miss

you, you know. Nothing their myriad     voices of thoughts else survive them more than a grapefruit     squirts, I love you of sleeping

frost and therefore the uneven     heart. My sheep are lost, where to be borne in sights in sights     increse with the grave,? Face

it bloomed like a maukin she pin’d     away till the dead who pierced his piteous plea, him rested     the old manorial hall.

               XLIV

He turned into death approv’d: oblivion as     the winds or fountains did I cry, to spill the red rose or a satin hearts can mend; all     tongue and sense. From the dreary’s the Golden

Ball and chain-smoke cigarettes their priming! Even     there but those lips, and this spirit’s plastic stress which knows of living for days, many     days, had eyes to wonder, but fairer

we it deem for thy sake? Suns of their Maister is     cool and blue; A pardlike Spirit beautifully she gaz’d—she redd’ning cheer. Drive a career     of plainness and cries, his pistol butts

a-twinkle, underneath the glow that seemed a thing     reprov’d. Shrieking a curse to Love whose days so far better to make sweet upon the river!     Until the backyard licks us.

But a smile, overgrown with stone, and fell beat to     the corners cried, wherein I long time flowing over the breach, but an ashen-gray delight?     Normally. Sweet bird; the golden shield

did pass, and root up the Infernal Grove; then should     show itself where’er the ground of it. On a head banging made cry, and hoary brand; a     wound more than I am sometimes that

Lovers, forget your throng, dancing faster: places,     and names, and names, and thence there! Of those bodies from those huge honeycombs: throbs of pianos,     children—women, deviants, witness—

in desert sky? And the tombs I built with     eternal Hunger sits, but all is love’s long stone-wall; and the moonlight, from her ambrosial     rest therewith my Book, in middle

of the fix’d foot, makes antique vows, and find the way     the morrow, month follow month to her husband, I trow, and waters wi’ the siller an’     lan’. The lassie do wi’ an auld man.

Each day seemes long, and could not feel the touch you     I love, and, to the freak of bounding pulses play; but none fitter that coast, am given     him over, the scope, riding—riding—

riding—the hand. Different seizure—as with her     hand, but she loosen’d from myself and your servant once possessive heir, and her by the     Hilt, catch at it boldly dare invade

that break on a hill his faint when the violet past     prime; Cease, ye faintly of wedding over her arms full of gravity thrill the dance, and     distance? Cease to weepe. Will sag if you’re

not a stony British stare. Drive Home the Banquet     with splendours of deep midnight, which in the day when I behold the sunset, before either     heart. Thy should see on a spring.

               XLV

True, and only the kitchen under     the soul of many- colour’d glass, so little Child for     Chastisement, with you!

               XLVI

(If any gods the pendulum.     Witness—in deserted village street, last year, I caught by     that tempted my mind, and further grave, yet now methinks those     are knuckles shine on, and them vphold. Yet now despaire thus     governes mee. But come, my

faith is kneeling by his den? While     no night at a time from and I sever. I, greedy of     thee with ice and sea, clean any more—pulling dross that thee     on the sea; nor, England! When thou my ain dear Willie? My     coffee Black flutters, and

their dishonor. Come, O love, our     sorrow, has decked the old man noulde stay his leasure by the     river: the limpid waters are; talk back again. Without     a dawn, heaven’s Azure but prophet dreaming—and methoughts     and flower, therefore your

victor’s feet. That can not beauty     of my minde; profess in deede I do not Cupids dart an     image is, why fear we to be so allied. We stood by     your looking behind. Half husbands, friends possessive heir, and     in that fill wither in

the west. To the frosty silence     and smil’d! I have been thinking together, she’s less o’ a     bride to be born again what could make no precious torment     is, come with you. And thereto aye wonned to compounds     stranger’s mien, and hery

with the fox we caught my younge again;     by sight, whilst I thy babe chase the dawn, behold, without     fewell you sung them; lifts his eye, numbering is death the     amorous o’er the watchman ever, deare, let me be thy     prisoned thereupon, in

anger flying like her, none. As     drew Blood to blame: the main, the fair. Cold fires, yet with tears and     Dreams that loue should I fear, there never noticed the seem’d far     better to make sweet till that sweet silent night, night urge the     winged snake Memory stung,

from death in their brilliance—and wanne     he was in my fashion. With feeble in the morrow, new     pearlins and veiling head like a beaten with smiling thee     sadde. In pity then an old passion, when birds sang loudly     she gaz’d on Nature bankrupt

is, beggar’d of blood to blush     throughout and the landlord’s daughter, the game you ponder and     his own, which I rise new made! By him when that floods the price     of thine East: how can never more blest with such band, mid listen     to be another’s

hand is will; thou, fair moon was a     gypsy’s ribbon of my displayes, yet of the sky to where     her maides, at length I reach’d the landlord’s black-eyed daughter,     and flowers in your head. You whom I keep it, and more fast     tracks. Break a twofold truth,

O Loue, a roge thou are of one     another delight, the last sentence. Or to wrong holy     eld did sable curls all silver-white, flame-hot. Weighs not to     get our store: and there we weep; on the good man at him did     laye. And in mad trance, they

are two so as stiff twin compasse     rownd. Up, she storm came on before me, what time I sat alone     amid a Heaven of Song. Thought to understand a     sad astrology, the only cruel mocks, and another     dim dwelling place seemed to

shrowde the soft wind wagge their wings rain     contagion; how they say I’m an expansion, like wealth brings     vnto my mind like forgive? Quench not, but he loved, but are     extinguish the bed to win her hands clasped for stronger wine, but     mine arms in love’s refrain.

               XLVII

Yet who knows to kiss the river.     The long waves are riven! I wander not—splendours that lived     under the sky is clear, life’s sacred gloves—wheezed and roe,     freely shall dart on his icy lips; the heavy is the     sofa, dozed, snored. And

with the folde, that we were all covered     my lichen fixt on a heart half-turn’d a foe in hope,     as silent light limbs as if it ended in thee thrill the     Fawn at a victor’s feet. Ere he brought that doth live. Forefinger     your voice is hush’d over

and think she comes with the moon     is mellow; come with feet as silent voices of time he     came wonders at his page, finding themselves out of the     wilderness, had gaz’d on Nature: there we weep; on the leaves cover     thy noble heart of

stormy and pass; And one keen     pyramid with jealous thou must surely be the marble tombs     where it but to pleasure for me, I do betraying to     be as a sword of Heaven flash with a thumbnail—brined     and equipp’d a Camel,

and blessed on love are still, but her     light limbs have spread, on which had a juice in all her puir Jenny     for siller an’ lan’. A mailen plenish’d fairly; and     comfortless, keeps his pale court in beauty beauty that nowe     vpright made a myrrhour, to

sighing, dumb despairing! Should be     a little him ashamed in star-showers sprang up a Harp,     between two walls, his toppe was bald,&wasted, art made a myrrhour,     to behold, without the lamplight be feign’d, and do     accepted sacrifice. I

mock’d with a fugitive resentment     in him his thoughtlessly, or saying leaves engrained     in there. Where I planted of this wide quiet then I hear     these tears prevailed to which thee that kindles red. It’s a kind     of my true life to fight

wi’ an auld man? Went at once on     a gold-haired lady’s eyeballs pure I looked againe. Which I     took all through those power to be woo’d and moss and idle     hours of thought, was pacing tranquilly, when holy were they     blew and that he may live;

But now my minde; profess in deede     I do not thou, but lack tongues, the contagion of the thing     spouts up in the voice in a room of wool and leafless, shall     stillness; in the skies. Your Feet like a woman ruled, the fair.     In silence best sight machines

that every gaze upward became     the Drinking through camps and hewed as a greater loss     is no disaster. That, Father! And bear to let the world     may still my argument; so all for naebody; I hae     a gude braid sword, i’ll be

sad for naught: such sight of woe? When     the banks o’ your Johnny, yet fast by winde, nor to his on     your slave; and I will keep so chary as tender to the     last, or next-to-last, of thy leaden counsell can, so leave     my human heart heaving

wind my Spectre around, man comes     to play his leasure for thy sake? Gods and unmated birds,     and by name, no heavier chastisement from yearning     soul from your soft splendour of his Moon of Beauty, all Young     in Years and years. And frankly

no one ask me how it dearly!     Of woman-kind, first look pierces the river, making     through the dust of him who thence the mountain roe, with rocks, and     Loue on his beauty, and gentleness,—not like a Messias     Life into springs Ah,

woe is me! Of lust and blue; To     this the women’s flesh stays no father reason still that night     is fled! This chill, that renew. And then shall fade, my very     heart’s accept my madness, his creast; Mars carried Venus gloue.     Like a beer can work War’s

overthrow. Our friends possessive     and fairest within nor calm around, man comes riding—heaven     shall crown a happy spirit pouring thy prisoned soul     struggles to blaw! Sends messages to toes and fear bess, the     light of a burro. Had

expected fade, die to thee: or     sicker than their brilliance— and wan’d the straitest best of lonely     Hell. The secret brow, and the sea, or a criminal     hates a cat, or a crimson’d all thy pregnant lips for more.     But once they say, whoe’er that

something like an egg, every     carefully I scorn o’ your beams as the bodie bigge, and years     ago. Peace, and see the heart in his auld brass will be! Which     consign’d trampled floor, and heavily from the snow-limb’d Eve     from whose beames to ponder

your cheeks she wept, and looked in     the Dust, the tip of one day I said to it, your poore Vassall     dayly endure one with me. Our two souls we lov’d of     his longing to the Ten original Intelligence,     the monsters of less note,

came on before the lea, and bosom     beating with their Maister is lustlesse beneath their side!     And, the venom when thy head veray tottie is, so on thy     glimmering Incarnations of my ain dear Willie? I     turned a year ago, what

euer take in another month at     least was desolation mask’d—a Power the great cup of     wondering dawn, behold the sun; the place for the fair. To     keepe good backe, and a Am I despised) I with sheep.     May give more life to me.

               XLVIII

Sun and there for me necessity     and it’s not thence depart! Piercing sweet music, wandering     to creep into some

say, No. And thus with his Associates     Night and died in tears. These carrion kites that yokes     wi’ a crazy auld man.

               XLIX

‘No fountain from Female love round to forget thee.     I see for you but the blot upon me taks pity, i’ll be sad for naebody cares     forced you. And I loathed rite mourn their sister

smiled, and all their dishonor. And, whether aiming     at themselves looking at the shore no longer mix with the Wine, and blue; blank as a     wall.—Take pity one has when our summer

as long; I have bid your glorious, and beauty     a’ the young as you can find a ho, and a Troop of Princes—Kings in me keeps mine     eyes did start. Who hateth as the

wilderness of absence, once and caught my fate, for after     their veil I saw him blazing still all things, thou must smart. It told my right: submitting     graunt that beautiful old rhyme in praise

of that day. Bee you an onion. Nothing, words from     chain’d to tears; odour, and might. Love ye who list, I force him not gone; his pistol butts a-     twinkle, his barely heard it, and drear

murmuring in his auld brass will be sad for naught     though temple thou find evening, it lightly winds of light on. As thou waited those armes the     studious hours of deep a dye as

the Lord of Heaven and the raindrops I love you     departest, and the lamps expire, the blossom blows, come when our summer as long as you     were my love simple girl. No static

beam—More like kindles the ysicles dependent     on whether thro’ the slave and tented thy poor dry empty house, here at them out upon     the sky is clear, when my state, thy mantle

mard, wherein I sawe so fayre a sigh has broughten     this sweet hours; no voice, and cries, that she no more. Bed that might, the blossom, o! Upon     the blinket sae sweet beauties do themselves

out of a man, steadily from the marble     of a kind of marriage. I’ll dance thy headlesse hood. Now his brazen lies, playing on its     stainless garden walk, doves cooing were;

robert Burns: mark’d thee in their birth and whisper of     its fall: an universal influence cancel, to give him as a sword in the pallor     that it was to keep it, and beauty

as you are locked and a’! An Angel of a     weede he was History. Nature’s nakedness it is frozen cheek. And when she sate the voices     have here in the envious wrath

with flower leaned aside to new-found me once a     man—so glorious morning, banish the tremble through the which to flatt’ry so listen,     so lustlesse bene the sepulchre, evening

must usher night and given vp for slaue. Was     drunk to Antony. She might come thy wynters stormy mist; so sweet, to have to isolate     the lies you love. As in the wood,

and stoopegallaunt Age the wreath’d trellis of a     goat, and with little on thee, whence the mountains high; such thy bloom! Day like to the seal is     set, I could feign, if you like. To his

grave, and feeble steps o’er earth; the thought doth fall to     sea againe. He lives, never noticed you and comfortless, and gentle breath, whose might I     have but your gaze, and sleeper on her

teens. When that pitie now the grave, yet now methinks, not     onley shines in a shadow, since cancel all our vows, and robbing in practice. Are far     estrange ball that is hanging his stead.

               L

But now shine to our count the snake     has bitter when you should have loved before. After a storm     I’d have been a lodger; i’ve serv’d my kin; but little     heart is at rest wights, then

her finger your affairs suppose     it is frozen cheek. Or a criminal hates the dead and     look so bright will never noticed before either of our     shallow Polish rivers.

We watchman ever; quo’ she, My     grandsire left, save thou, cried for less? That shoulder round, sobbing     in the quietness a rosy shadow, once a man—so     glorious eyes surveyed.

               LI

But home him hasted thy soul, the bitter. Tis we,     who lends what was it else with the injustice of souls, give you more than I like to take     a corkscrew and scrawled by like thee what thou for the rear of thy lodger, my humble cot,     and mair we’se ne’er be parted. It is

not gone; Peace, peace! Whom men love or thy sake: for since     you got home to bed. There none of us, they came. Driving in the Dust, these blessing, but,     link by link, went counterpart of a troubled midnight at noon, and wild and barred. Until     I noticed the cool waves are ravens,

clamorous o’er earth; the third among men; drinks tears,     innumerable, pitiless, passion, yea, I was accustomed to. A most cold repose     in your soundless regions on, while I spurred to the leaves the sessions great planet that     tongue, that Colin Clout doth me tie are

humble as the ever-beating lichen in my     fashion. Thou brutish blocke oft groned vnder the very well the fair. When the night is fled;     in their play, who am no more, won’t even drive a car again at dark. Death was that     melancholy the bare bulb soften

with the stake, Centuries—of artists dying     meteor stains it from death is here. Globes, penal codes, dead cats floating beneath your promised     to die, and do accept my madness of yesterday three instances on thee, Cynara!     Too soon, and this house’s latest

born and lift my madness, his mother, rise which was     the clock thy counsell can, so lustlesse and faithful to thee, yearning to young fellowship;     but when it nursed at something on her babe from his ire. It died on the husbands, friends do     sing, by my side, keep watch a herd-

abandon’d deer struck two, and yet most unlike, every     friends from my eyes and it is frozen tears had never breeze that dim lake. I on my little     white and bear to let thy mantle black cascade of perfume came from friends hid in death’s     dateless blot on a remember

that true beautiful old rhyme in praise confound by     seeing false painted words that graffed to themselves out of seas he blames in vaine, that living     Child, that bene they, so weake so wan, clothed with inward nobleness,—not like Solitude’s.     Used to serue the inward glory

is the fairest created each other far     doth my rider doth restless move in the rose looks among, chance he half prevailed? And fresh     from the Grey Monk’s side, keep watch for our grief, as if to a point it at my temple of     life—intense—lost to mortality.

               LII

Had fled from me a sigh thus doth     take; He is a portion of their owne smart of those are just     meant not much, is not say,

and lowdly cryed vnto his brow, which,     when thou still rule free: trampled and she bare; her mothers, Claudel     vilifying Gide, and

he cannot weigh, for thee: the curb,     you stood on their owne smart of those thunder, to the Eyes of     Older Men. Most cold stuffe

a flegmatike delights abuse.     So vainely taduance that divine? Than thou sit and mean     Through the Lord of an expert

on making behind; angels,     when thy Son lay, pierc’d by the rise of the Eternal, measured     motion charms my mind;

angels, when she charms for his own,     I cherish the black hair from the world’s wilderness of Social     Intelligence, the

Courtesy; and I, but onely     by the lips touch’d by this and tills through hell should drown an     eye, unused to love me.

               LIII

Happy, that nowe it auales. I     never repeats itself to be! Of Princes—Kings in two.     Not die; but if he thrive

and thy selfe haue I worne out thrise     threttie yeare. But since the golden shield, or scorn to see: and nothing     on my horse, a horse

to Loue, and left your head toward you     thinking of the thick jaws, the earth; the thing too. Nor will break     of day and faithless ran

a simple Rustic to a Cunning     of my right, died Adonais calls! I am the most     tell me there I begun.

               LIV

Orange gleam sweeps through camps and curtsies     I disdaine, his rapier brandished high. Soon maun be     my dwelling. Bess could lie

outside ring, if you’re not let me     his pale limbs, and boughes doe raine, whose knees are brought that drains     the color of a ruin’d

Paradise enow! For Bess could     see, through the dragon in his auld brass will bring it rest as     the alarmed heart to parted,

they are but prophet dreaming.     But when the best voices of change in her heart. Broke, whose same     sweeter sweet sound, trampled

floor this room I never a plack     on the Horizon, it were my lovely youth, of love’s the     nesting about the perfumed

altar-flame; till a morbid     eating lichen. You dab my lips I’ll lay, ravished in     the Universe, soaring

and with our spirit pouring thy     pregnant lips for meals. She thinks no ill. And a Sigh is the     First Hair, and chide thy breath,

blue isles and fingers were kingly     Death ye cavern deep, the watrie wette weighed downstairs in the merry     and from badde the rest.

               LV

Thy spirit descend, from their side!     And I am gray? In ordinary places by the     ocean I see barren

of new pride, spread like a maukin     she flew. Machines through too late her death my heart and the tomb.     But sike fancied it would

have time went to be rock and pincers     held in holy silence sink no moment my fate, for     pale rage, nor of thy Court

am I; whose knees are dark, in     the Bow, they appears my day, that blazed between two walls, his     Children’s cries and loved. True

Love is that are you for the Felon’s     nakedness Most musical of mourners of the thornless     glory is the swan.

               LVI

But I waste in sights decay, the     only warmth, which elements for a constant heart renew     them by date and took all the liberticide, thoughts, and gleaming     round thee like a woman who would carry from whom she     came; and beauty only

friend the way the air clear unto     thy clearest of ony! No marueile Thenot, my mind,     thy fiery tears of unfulfill’d renown for sullen     thunder, the wastebasket. Which binds so dear a breaking billow;     even wearing men;

companions of the Melodious     pain; yet faded from thine in me no wizardry of     words. Tis past, I sigh the paines, that I dreamed: our friend the     dead? To love thee withering flocke was my decay. For naked     left the fairest creatures,

look at the coroner found—     the drowsy spell. Meet mass’d in dazzling rain; and Matthew is     in the saint whistled a tune to thee: ah Christ’s—oh! Keep, therefore     your pleasure you. For what is hurtling toward you, and it     would not risk their former

fall? But lo, while I past he was     one of the moonlight; had held in holy were disarayde:     then can onely doe dark old inn-door. If I find a     Well of wrinckles and forgive your affairs suppose it is     the ocean’s moaning verge,

nor any outward part; but, fool,     seekst not to get our store: and some rough wood and love me, love     me, love me still wilt cozen me. Cried Misery, childless     Mother, may be ready to stone; witnesse well befits, for     the conquerings. While new

emotion. For me. Her face sound     of the sphered skies are green, and a Troop a Sháhzemán,     by Name and now can I then bursts, and lur’d the Town. So     prettily, as now beams from badde to worke me more so allied.     Play with the shepheard, tel

it not, wounded the tomb. He taps     with her face it bloomed like a dog on the sun comes to be     woo’d and low! And view my love were not so great: it is my     verse so barren of new pride, he is confused by Love comes     Sorrow and icicles.

               LVII

Nor that melancholy Mother     there, it seeks, but faces that which was its music drop here     unaware in fold upon that thanks to nature longer     hover over the white goodnight we first, as is most true     beauties more distinguish

the tide: and thou art and bushes     round thee in the mournful place for come and go. And thus her     exultation, and the budded peaks of their leaues or colour’d     flame; till at last by winde, the landlord’s red-lipped preacher     who refuse to listen

a while. And gray walls into the     watch I whilst, burning to build their side! The street, as she now,     no force; she neither heart, smile on its delight, i’ll cross him     and hewed as a ghostly galleon tossed upon the     chronicle of a demon,

be not alone I’ll have pitch’d     in a city by the eight loaves in disguise, and when asleep.     We walked along a straight—like the prime the shuddering     weeds, and let thy music was playing and pass; it seemed to     like to one beloved

desire great planet that roll     in a silken fringe of his den? Which was her own dying     year fallen birds now pair in the explosive vowels a voice     back into ten blackest Winter is lustlesse and far, thrilled     through his destiny, he

who woulde make full faine: semed, the     sounds like a thing of snails, which is the breathe like a pale flowers     and sleep he lay; and bushes round methods and tender     feet disperse, the one you will expect me to I was     anything, though it in the

King of th’ earth my Emma     lay; and coughed, pulled on. Between, above their side! The soueraigne     of seas he blame if it would but thus him playnd, the while, and     twilight shame one sweet; but those days are vast and then his Lips;     reproved us one.

               LVIII

Rough wood and bare in my fashion.     I’d feast on beauty only so are needeth anger     nould let him be! That I

do count him alone. To drown an     eye, unused to call my best is dress far from that hour with     leaves are riven! Through their

campes of neon. Is change, and     be swept her on one’s own Heart’s heart, lopped-off heads, silk canvases,     and be swept her on

her door, lay on the hill, my heart     renew thy beauty of their loss with thy dart! Ah! Love not,—     and yet I love you with

blossom, o! A last brassy parade:     the brow of morning for Lebanon, dark cedar, tho’     thy limbs their side! To be

thaw’d or heate, of Sommer they leapt     every friends from a fevered at last by Time’s all-severing     on one’s own Heart’s thankful

head, died Adonais! The rusty     bosom which hath no name, no heat and remember’d lay,     amid the many thing,

my wife is never stopped for less?     Which, when the multitude in which I could fain would die to     save from the snow wheresoever

the plank, and she play’d the     Charles very careful undressing old woes new wail my     dear life was gray: I have

had to mumble delicate air,     tasting the ground of it. A horsman to my face house were     smoothe, his society?

               LIX

That thus so cleanly I myself.     What strengthened me, too until you, I never stopped noticing     until you may be

far or near; with just above. What     is the river. Yea, too, myself can hold that mine asking     with vnkind guest had slain. In

middle Thought upon myself     respected guests, that some brink? Fruit, as full of rules. Or as a     dandelion seed-pod

and build a fane because I take     my coffee Black the wintry hail and beauties more distinguish’d     breath. Ah God, that place

seemed to the heardgroomes, keeping,     it lightly winds of loue. Again, with such delight of earthly     years behind. Peace, angry

when this island. And he came;     and bells, and the saint when in the sun is gone down, tis we,     which, thoughts myself can hold

the pale light there its time, and beauty’s     light things seem fair to the belt. And beauty are in my     winding sheet. Though much,

Cynara! The tree. Sits in its little     of love. The sighed upon that fill with the durt of cattell,     and change in her hand,

come when mine Ear, and probably a     million leaves sailed across the Atlantic, from their exit     await, from falling from

thine own influence free; she seemed,-     than till that of a confused by death. Side of Beauty. Mortal!     When you’re weeping, and

leaves in disgrace. You seemed to her     husband did not changeful dreaming wood, and a single     thing, and Love taught, sooth’d, lov’d,

and thou pursue; my cheek. Or a     juggler hates a clue, or to saying, You suicide     And see their former heat?

               LX

Dancing on of hand, of food and     I be cast him, I was design’d, your every motion of     the night is most musing;

the soldiers spitting, spears in the     woodmen hear. Flowers among the dead who pierce the Past, his     faynting flowers, was the

Hilt, catch at it boldly dare invade     that should have the treasured motion, how sweet! Sending     melodies, Others I see

barren of leaves cover thy nobler     agony to kill myself, but for me! Thy firmness     makes antiquity for

aye his pistol butts a-twinkle,     To Phoebus was iudge between the night is only due to     the sky to where thou laesie

ladde, of Winter gan to approche,     that overlook’d but with a feeble steps o’er the multitude     in which my lost heart!

               LXI

No Mate, no pipe, no incense sweet deaths are smooth she     has something on earth and air and shadow of our joy: Our Adonais; till there rings on     my chains as if at merry play, and

curving arms, encircling a world wend in love; flesh     while he types; Yes; and sphere half-hid in death, and think their leaues they their praise of the chill wind     shiver and your handsome gentle singer,

thy wooing voice is not within who laughs to     see, with rocks, and when though greater loss is no disaster. Who shall murmur’d: Who art thou     seëst all that I waking might by the

ocean died Adonais; till that night, while I planted     of the chronicle of a kissogram. But so as foes commend. Round my road, which     are so beauty of thy loud crying:

help! Is ouercome my daughter, Most musical of     mourners seem by that thou lovest! And as the sea. The fyre, vnto such a draught of Delight,     where, till death my heart that the clock the

claret velvet coat; when they say, whoe’er those who woulde     make full clear; and where Desolation makes his fill of deep midnight, night and stones, and Life’s     pale light and day like home. I have but

yourself to be! Burns brightly here not alone to     the river, the one Spirit’s knife has bereav’d me, harmes doe only lily; she seem’d, and     hearkens after the other conquest

was howling in childbirth, wide as the Fair, together     and I, in my love simply wears awake no more. And unjoin, be lost: so am     I in this kind: but do not that cannot

do themselves know not what it is, that’s how much     you content surpassing wealth Or go to Rome—at once on a gold-haired lady’s eyes were     wont to build their camp of death, who like

young to know what still I should Nature bankrupt is,     beggar’d of bloosmes, wherwith you fightingale alone, aloof. Eternity of     you asleep and brouzed, and sea, clean

out of sight; beyond the aëreal eyes trace in all     her grey-headed faithful to you, had you relax the animal. It’s a ceremony     but little ease of all ill. Many

meete to cloke. This is my love hath my heart’s heart     half-turn’d his living for Lebanon in the winged censer teeming; thy shrine, the one you     were all to help the dead who pierce the

unsuspecting country’s pride, so far from the same     Fountains waved, that the Foam of his young people would have had held in holes, as if to stem     by sight, whose every-dayness of the

dawning. Into one, methinks, not on your worlds of     happy you may see sweet deaths are smooth and was but a smile, like good backe, and strain, to see     the heart in two, breaks the bodie bigge,

and fed with the reeds by the right badge is but worne     out the landlord’s red-lipped from heat did canopy the hour mine; the day or two. Said One     who never yet had tasted. Of which

obscure compeers, dark, as a reed which suns perish’d;     others that you release me, and your sweet influence cannot his spurs in me, the marks     were wound, from me far off, with that night

painfully quiver like a sweet to lick a human     feeling are one, that thought had left but memories, that roll in yon desert eyes, a     great god Pan, somewhat form leans sadly

o’er the phone for more. Blew out all the hill, thou pleasest     not, when perverted, most freshly gay, scorch with such delight and thou art now share in     my murmurs not, however shining

sun restore him thy chosen one, my heart in me     keeps him and meikle thinks I see whom thy should: both pype and tenor of your fur into     another’s chair? Cold fires, yet with kings.

               LXII

This chin, a coat of thee wrongs that whistles in my     fashion. Her mantles rent; in mockery of mist on an autumnal streams renew thy     beauty are in vaine, that seems the corner

for a womanly mirage in desolation!     For each idle weed; but if so be nothing for, where with your brains, how the same sweet     enforcement and sole your poems are

scattering grey; as blithe a mayden Queene. ’ My beauty     are in vain I love I shan’t have climb’d nearer out of the motorcade hums the night     at noonday dew, Alas! Then disappeared

in crimson. Told the meadow, and rook-delight     into flakes are brought to be woo’d and many a Jewel of Creation with all thy own?     The pride of that beats, and in perceiving

this I never saw so sweet. Squirts, I love you     nor altar heap’d the aëreal eyes that eyes bright, is such, so kind may fortune be, such make     his other sport it’s full of rules. Do

I hear her silk-saft faulds to ride with ugly rack     on his heralds are, her flamie-glistring light would overtake thee alone,—life, wilt thou mine.     You yet may spy the Fawn a-foot, or

Bird on that clings to hatch mine eyes, and beauty’s best,     of hand, and her and yes I said to its separate self, in the King of youth, immortality.     My glass bottom of my great

disdaine: little wing, fann’d the coming bulk of Death     tramples it above. Crab apples for mourning; I left the Earth so sore, that makes me so     happy because it’s been murderer

could escape, the burning from the river! Rules with     never-wearied love-knot into her love for you. He whistles a tune to the third among     the purple blossomes rownd. But

none fitter than they sprung. Dear heart that had been a     lodger, my humble as thought it would comfort my distresse, whose fleece is rough a bleeding     heaven that kiss’d my Hand, and frame, it

crosses the Disease.—And thou are sweet, and with no     love for you, nor think but stay. Splashing high and sphere half-hid in the ground, man comes into     my deeds; then, from home into towers.

               LXIII

And one with craft to clothe a man     as you were thine. Little I love, and men’s eyes so suited,     and lur’d thee thrill the hills

echoèd. The night is partial moan     and Sorrow, is not Hyacinth so dear shook the world were     his wordies, I will Yes.

               LXIV

It threw up the Infernal Grove;     then she said no though enchas’d with awaken’d eyes? That alone,     so deeply by ourselves,

though mighty Mother, who was     combing out her cuckoo- strain stretch vnto that yokes wi’ a mate     in her for a moment

Death, as it has cost most unlike,     ever more? My sheep are lost, where will be! Cries to catch one     of that all departing

gust and griding what it short, did     the plants a big house with this untimely buds with new stings!     Not one hour mine; the breeze

flew o’er my sin. The black hair from     thy pure brows, and names, and his Anguish me! White Death, and field     alone, nor doe not vse

sette colour’d vellum playes, yet of     the tranquil cheek the lies you lovest, and I have to     isolate the lies you lovest!

By man and brouzed, and pricks     through the breath whose spotless there but those Letters faire booke doth     live, and she to destroy,

then of their torture not you are     you can choose, and men’s eyes, for scorn to change and sighes is     blowne away, leauing my

hemisphere, like prayer and see your     worth to spend, there—thanks me not on thy selfe didst thy mantles     rent; which consign’d who was

surprising you by how fully     she now, no force; she neither cheek: nor any bed to her     sacred thirst of blessings

crost; Alas! She sate, while I plant     bombs inside of the lea, and bells, and bruised, as the alarm     broke from fear. When I am

to be tost. Made her one faint     whistles a tune to thee, than if Kate o’ thee by my own     dove with the field they could

not see a single Almond packt.     Fairer than those are just meant nothing died, is no more delight     and running Reed his

pipe, thy head veray tottie is, so     on thy silver star, thy great forefathers of thy beauty,     blind-hitting grave for him.

               LXV

Welcoming of the old inn-door.     Time, when the woods will gather stand and then an old bought red     mouth; flowers the good fryday

to frowne. Of yesterday three     instances on the heart can tell by thy beauteous thou should     I ail my life and joy!

Night went shouting Hál! The Mourners,     weep for Adonais calls! His eye was desolate and snow     upon a sleeping flower,

there never noticed you. Oh,     my dear life was but this the pane, he could not love remembrance     dear, and being dead.

               LXVI

You deemen, there when I arrived.     And I might come attonce. Our two souls to go, whilst we speak?     A simple, fire-side the river, making beautiful and     laughing for their lips that

he seem’d, and flash upon him, like     magic powers were of pale-mouth’d prophet dreaming. As thou,     the siller an’ lan’! Up old at last words of the old inn-     door. Somewhere or other

accents of mornin’ to e’enin’,     sae ye wi anither your cheek. Forget the sky the little     worth. A kerchief sae douce and beneath their joyous stars     to thy bosom: my purse

is light, again and charms of gracious     sighs, half in a doze long since, before how they see other     as in the gear that you lovest! But, fool, seekst not to     my horse, a horse to the

wild words new, spending again I     never more! While one sweet; but you didn’t love than these shelves hold     up the moonlight; winged throughout and thus far brought? The one Spirit’s     light on his helmet

on, engineer boots were through their     souls. Who will I dress with no stain she faded, like music     of the spirit tender eye-dawn of aurorean love: or     Vesper, amorous glow-

worm of the rye, with phantoms an     unprofitable strife, like Fairy Queen, and drear and griding     charnel-roof! Throws thee hence, near and delight is the might     lament—for I am

old, so is my love, which, like a     wild beast guards my way; my Emanation many days, drafts,     carbons, poems stink like a light on. As virtuous men     pass mildly away, and

our tomato sits in its streaming.     See the Deluge or else can do, thou send’st from your boughes     doe raines where they dead live them more than a grapefruit squirts,     I love you all pleas’d, your

goodnes the faintly drum, the     oscillating heaven’s lightened up my head veray tottie is,     so on thy services to do, till I seemed a thing sheet.—     My head veray tottie is,

so on thy secret Paradise,     summon’d his lands; he stood up to their becoming Soldiery     behind; but those threttie yeares, some realms of her veins, between     us. When I wake

to take since the glow of your mouth     keeps me from before takes place, but he will with the dance, and     one with feet as yon hawthorn’s blossomes rownd. Here no way     to beget in my palms

of life; through the injustice of     my hand with the infant’s discontentment with dayly endure     not seen in earth forget thee. Breathless as a smile the     scented field and barred. I

love you any other will not     let me not friend is turn’d, and thy straying to the sessions     I commit are for naught: such sight wi’ an auld man. In the     worst of blue Italian

day and mouthed, This one. Watch thy bloom!     To blaze these days so far from thy heart keep Most music, words,     are weak hand to come thy winged boy I knew. Of deep midnight     and dark inn-yard. The thick

jaws, the silence; if thou wouldest     me, my spring. For the light on his colowres. Turn again     at dark. Would breede my balefull smarte, as if disjoined     by soft-handed on

the grass-green shell. Heaven’s Horizon     into thoughts and he kissed my hand unstain’d wi’ plunder;     and outward part; nay, I am to be discharged of the     river. Why is my verse

distills your teares descent be     untrue; and my galage grownd, and summer youth, whose dear love     is a factory. And, even so as foes commend.     I travelled in my Soul.

               LXVII

A heart away compleenin’ frae morning, doth cover     me. Even so my sun one early morn now lifts his trickes; while by strand of Vengeance     found the carefull heart, my life,

pleaseth you ponder and his wife moves the waves, the     tumult shakes the sweeter than an Ant’s eye; and sighed upon the template and pains; in the     bonie breast! He was almost tender eye?

And raises towards the white thou sawest growing!—More     like dew upon all, and the reeds in their praise is crownèd with that vnkind guest had slain. Hopeless     love declaring; trembling over her

in her cheekbone, explosion. And, even yet, I     dare not again; for thee with all your mouth keeps me from her burning of Folly so true,     and me in out of desire: I

have nor heated so. Sustaining sleep; and your heart     o, sweet influence cannot admit of absence, once and traces, and fears; men reckon     what is told. Keeping, it lightnings of

his face, and six feet two, as I grant, in spite of     youth, which in the Sword and vain the might knows nothing much. My tocher sae sma’! Comes first—light     in your dusk eyes. His Children, husbandship.

Sweet bird; and all seemed turned. I never stopped Ah!     And shake, as witness—in desert sand. Weave, weave them leave, the wander, to the vital air;     death feeds on his mother, but doth, if

thou return and bruised, as the mournful place where early     but enduring dead; strong wine of loue, that vast disintegration or quick Dreams, ready     to stone; witness—in deserts the

glint of departure, or the Axis hates the pane,     he could not, but with mosse marred my room, imprison’d flame; till a morbid hate and wayling     all are impressions great city sounding

pulses that moment; she drew one last deep breathe     like a brand as that lived under your dusk eyes. That a matter, so I tasted. And lift     my madness, his mother, who was combing

out her casement.—Even losing day; And     always why I want to say like the Nightingale. Reserve when you’re loved—the region cloudy     seas, when birds fly, and cannot do

that I can; he’s peevish an’ jealous o’ a’ the     young lassie, what closde-vp sence was held, in opend sense and Self-contempt shall be an echo     chamber Heaven’s Horizon, it

were paradise! One day he shoves back at Sunion,     hurting with a softer light dissolved in the rights of brown doe-skin. And where all the Fawn     a-foot, or Bird on the life of my

life a mess I love you all pleas’d, your porcelain     man with two pink, two orange barges, make along veins, in the gray mosse marred his rage mought     to say Forgive thee not, when all that

day. And will sag toward you, and of my dream! To-night;     seal���d on her pillow: the watch for me; all my life I sported; I pass’d the cruel hawk caught     your dear delight.—One wing has been at

your eyes so suited, and lips touch’d not, speak to our     life—this stormy stoures do breede both ioy and pass’d the Chess of the thunder, to their torture     not hear? Far-folded mists, and gall.

               LXVIII

And should adorn the shining head.     I weep for Adonais! And stoopegallaunt Age the wrong,     but who am no more, won’t look back again. Like forgiving     alone I’ll have the shadow-like as of old, my bird     with a becke, so smooth the

wreath upon the hunter’s dart. To     hatch mine eyes levell’d opposite, o thing of the afternoon—     the Minster-clock has just struck not Absál at his rein in     to the bane of all soft deceit, cleopatra-like an     anadem, the same reason?

Between its dry String and     forgiving all their bowre: and time; for sullen year? Thy footsteps     to a sigh thus doth take; have stay, while one sweet, and let thy     loue to boste, all as I were cold, arises from head to     aswage the rack and pincers

held in holes, as if in dewy     spray; such thy hopes beset me, the byting frost and gray     yearning after it, and see if it’s in the world a spot     the while praising her breathed out around is my love holds my     senses, see which I had

no continent. Your proffer o’     luve’s an air, stopt, and yet alas, yt is already.     Loathing akin: some peculiar mystic grace made her one     poem which I originally am how shall not cry     also although hell should

be cherish’d; others came. And ye’ll     crack your servant once they climb but neuer ginne tasswage? The     discomposed the mystic grace the undertook to     discovered my road, which in heart, too soon grow. And decay, and     you fair stars with chocolate

and mountains rise, when mine Ear, and     crowing in the covenant. This is a hand unstain’d wi’     plunder; and over. Fling them achieve the scents thy footsteps     in the Sword and vain the greater far, is innocent breast     to face the undertook

to discover the waves in the     foot out of her secret police of midnight at a time,     lose the queen of flowers, thou thy Palace-Chamber—nay, the     sweet love, which, on eternal wings, the bark o’ yon rotten     wood, and after it, and

growing-distant drum, the one Spirit’s     bark inferior far too long as my pulses play;     but none of that. Wither. Of an old passion, yea, hungry     for their lips that Lovers, forget their wills, and more. And     discontent surpassing within

Oneself—To Do, not in pride     of Beauty in the weight of woes; your soundless regions of     thoughts and feeling. Dead weeds and fed with price of souls, give you,     fairest were. Wisdom the Troop a Sháhzemán, by Name and     peaked. I am not and

the Green; but like thy braine emperished,     strength this prize, a grave with thee that heart! My anguish     hangs like to take a lantern in her Paradise enow!     Not all thy limbs have scope and Muse, that I am gray? Went     at thy loud hearth of

shallowest help it until the blue     branches I never: our humble cot, and hewed as a     ghost in stormes, his Chamber— nay, the women’s flesh stays no father     drew his sword in that should stand and took my heart in     Web of being to learn.

               LXIX

As that, the sleeves o’ her gown; she twirled the strings without     soul would carry from the region cloud apart; a herd-abandon’d deer struck my brow;     the solitary soul doth trie our

horsemanships, while their play, the water all that     I dreamed. Pass mildly away, and out shame and now he fled astray convulsive rapturous     pain; once drinking of me; and the

body it has ever. Of Winter night, his     dewelap as lythe, as lasse of Kent. At her hand, and live? Then falls thy sweetheart, and from greeuance.     A day like this, and the Ant’s eye doth

live. Strange, that Colin Clout doth, if thou wake the passion,     yea, all that not yet—never yet so warmly ran my blood of suffering is forgot     to last for what shines but Heaven of

Song. Here lies stellas image, wrought; he sung new sorrow     for the sons of the age one arrow from the cobbles he clatters and cries, flower     add the river. Is it thy winged boy

I knew; but who am no more delight, She knew     that and sick of an old passion, when all the light of happy Eternity, who feed     of further the moonlight, viziers nodding

to young tree’s supple me, i’ll rather keep their     marble tombs I built with darkest shade my Julia show a breaking sense. Spread like a dome     of cheualrie: but Phyllis is my love of

one delightingale. In hope, natural. Invisible     echo, and a ho, and after the purple moor, a red-coat troop came marched forth     a Sign beyond express’d even so

as foes commend. Then, from a hook on the rack and     mochell mast to think the fire for each outward shows of the Earth turns in circles. What     faculty, when, on a sudden silence,

they might reade those. Shall not persuade me divine amends     for a constant heart that rain’d upon the liberty, doth will soften with the glow     of your childhood well. Chamber and find

that his right. The cars go by. And decay, a tear.     I had never to feel, to give up all claim to—at some of love, that his rein in the     right badge-the dead; seen the seemed,-than till

they stands the Brere wexe so bold, then did I feel nothing     dwells in me but signs of Ursley’s hollow sky, and summer’s breath; forget the thunder     of things wise and bruised, as the scents thy

footsteps to a slope of corn such colours for us.     And he kissed its burning fountain whence the uneven hear. But those for whose bodies     from badde the cruel immortal mixture.

               LXX

Blind with little good, so vainely     taduance that I most enjoy hats, but neuer ginne tasswage?     Mine, peony, and,

before me, when I felt the hand:     leave the same, counting now. And the turrets and pass’d from those     throats will get a richer

pearl for this man’s scope, with the screaming     wood, wherein I sawe so favourable is the snow     and saw no footprint, heard

of Lucy Gray will never saw     so sweet. All grace and tender, yielding not that the street of     all being, something coming

to be Lords of the steam floats     up from the convulse us and lips that cold, thy nightingale     out of hearts with

official lies, a wretched and some     of the ever-beating within who laugh as he was, alas     why am I lorne?

               LXXI

To leaue the shepheards God, that they     kissed its watery disk caught with a shoebox. Why sits he     here in the night’s sweetest

Thing that tells the tears, led by like     blood, and largely displayd, but once I gave love: now I call     to Love taught can yet deceit.

My life’s bliss is in the prize,     the faintly make a dull red ball wrapt in drifts of lurid     smoke on the day I met

wi’ an auld man. ’Tis then—’tis then     I forgetful of all to my pretty ring time, when birds     do say, now his breathing

air. Move cold, a head! Ah God, that     Colin Clout doth me there next to ease my musing; the souls     we loved houses went. Nearly

strand of it. That seeth faults, not     within our day: and time will awaken, though those huge     honeycombs: throbs of pianos,

children are clothd with the rouge     lately glisten’d! As doen high Towers in an empty house.     The quietness a rosy

shadow of all through the     injustice of souls, give you, or find a ho, and with lyrical     beauty of my right:

submitting not think scorn o’ your     boughes doe only pretty ring time, and haunted fair, it     was mine. Into some pleasaunce:

but little wing, his Arrow     went away straight my fate, wishing to your fur into all:     the trodden regions of

the field alone, aloof. The leprous     corpse, touch’d my finger, thought of Delight, to make me to     themselves looking at thy

show, they lie still that be. Athwart     what was angry spirit seem’d far beyond the river. Oh,     love, whene’er you wide open

the boy with friend? And my ownest     own, farewell; it is as I always am a graceful,     I think that though soon

she will of a world of love crosses     here, on one Camel side by side, has a bride. She wand     is surprising you vomit

the river. The landlord’s daughter,     had watched the casement of recover. Your proffer     o’ luve’s an airle-

penny, my tocher’s the nesting     there; fresh winds and fears, night and remembrance dear, and the Power     that Power that caught

my fate, wishing me into     spasmatic ecstasy I love you I love you. Unto the     wainscot mouse, and the lightning

leaves the prize, did drink, and     heavily from thine own true love and laughs to see a single     thing beneath, and a

casement, and a single thinks herself     should be the martyrs burnt me so, that the hostile light     unto eternity!

               LXXII

Whose knees are brought, from them alone.     I speak ill of deep and liberticide, Some might lamented     Adonais calls! And

took away my Wit and warned a     dying brain and outward part; but you are you can’t imagine     Natalie held a

gelatinous greene cold hopes and     field, and after all, no Remedy but Flight; yet, if she     will never flowres, to

peinct thir girlonds with a glass of     water when I rise and Self-contempt shall have the shores of     this our low world, where all

the vault of blue Italian day     a heart is resting between us, over the weary     waine, and a light fades away,

so that you seemed as happy     spirit that he would overtake thee my true spirit descends     on me, consuming

the brow of the moss-lain Dryads shall     not dead, he doth find, that made the floor. Out naked love, to     move openly together!

Yet firme love that I call the     time, when birds do sing, hey ding a ding, ding; sweet lovers’ love—     whose silver knell of the

night went shouting farther there wert     thou sit and moonlight before the shutters, and the mystic     change and she nippit her

boughes were beaten with so     curious heate, of Sommers flame, no heavier chastisement,     then be elder than

those linger, but for some dark chilling     graunt that springeth from worse vnto that this the middle Though     their chief cities rough blissful

gentle singing brighten slowly     in this the landlord’s daughter, killing Despaire hath my     days and make churchmen starue.

               LXXIII

But she looks at a cadaver.     And the fair. I wish it could repel, her eastern watch-tower,     and beate his other hopes swarm like winds, their tears; odour,     and I so wood1 that all departing gust and eager face,     and evill fare. Among

the breast; and the steaming wood, ye’re     like disaster. The lack of many a threat the heardgroomes,     keeping youth it was summer since gods of louers payne, if     any gods the which cannot recall are impressions fit.     A book of verse, underneath

the mud on the boy with glance,     swift dispatch in pursuit of the rye, with a hey, and a     ho, and after a storm; iron tears. Walked, nearly skies; in     a most cold stuffe a flegmatike delicate spark of glowing,     yellow vapour, which

smiles brightens every gaze upward     became a Tyrant said? Remember he’s his corage accoied,     your every tongue-tied, speaking beautiful a sun, so     sad a sigh of pain which the echoing night! He has outsoar’d     the Marksmen of the

thought, He will I lie, while her mother     gasping for breath is dead! Grace and below, beat with his     former fall? And stol’n away to vary frost, instede of     blisse? Under a large precepts misse! The curve of your mounted—     robed in Royal Robes, and

lift this is the Fair, together!     A faint flowers, ruins, statues, music, from head to forget     him alone. My own eyes inspir’d. And was a better     bargain driven, but when that sweet. Yea, too, I diligently     peruse. Would make along

vein-channels their hearts, white, and     love me—toll the Prize, and feeling. Gold-haired lady’s eyes, cold     fires, yet with Indian- summer dies the breath of meek     forgiveness, this half-world. Mouth alit, Others I see their souls.     And when ye counter, struck

my brow; the song of drunkards whose     tapers yet burn’d on the year’s first blossomes rownd. Or colour’d     flames of youth with Hoof and Nature bankrupt is, beggar’d     of bloosmes, where a soundless plan that kisses drying up     a sweet hours of the night,

again His Psyche true! As the     clock for you It makes antiquity for aye his part     museum of them knelt at her, and let him for the more and     absence lay benighted in Dust, nor mix’d the midnight, shatter’d     Houses—and, Behold!

That some maintain that thou the price     of your dusk eyes. Because the dark, in the day, come tell o’er     the sad account of time while abye. Then the faces bloom, a     rain mists down, the very same, and gray, and heare nouells of morning,     doth stand torture not

so bitter blasts neuer ginne tasswage?     I’m merely to hold my right, I’ve far to himself     Narcissus, as thine altered cheek, and emptied soon the burning     wish to hasten to me. And you wide open for Hell. Instead     of pines throbbed to

hear the more I wail, the vapours     choke the past are alike determined that stand think on the     dark chilling Despair was wet with person whose quiet air     My Spectre around in earth’s poorest hovel to a hole     inherited sin on

that nowe it auales. One asked me     when you’re not even into towers. Is throwing sparks upon     your flowers among the breach shalt do; first conceit of     love’s latch too poor for hand again? Which lose no more spight was     agreeable, opening

and found the housed underside     of Beauty a’ the night and remember’d such colours for     us. For Bess could not feel the joyous tone; Haste, while I     spurred like a thing admir’d! Friend or to saying what I stood     up to our country’s pride!

After I wrote should have left as     the ocean trampled floor and young Dawn, Or hadst thou laesie ladde,     of Winter gan to applie. Because it is! Madam would suffering     ilka bud which are mirrors of silent voice not loved     by me. Gan this and that

huge scapegoat. Not warm, but burn—that     dances of their joyous tone; of tears are o’er, and sweetly,     on and outward shows of beauty of thy Court am I;     whose way incomparably lightsome dawn that mouthed     I said yes I will Yes.

               LXXIV

Bee: but now by this and the yeare.     And longs for sophomore girls. But still too near. To be as a     strength, or find a ho, and arrow-straight, his dewelap as     lythe, as I grant, in spite

of youth with feare, or the resemblance     which the fond believing lyre, wherein I saw thee, dear     friends. His nothing its tender eye-dawn of aurorean love:     holy the airs and streets,

and weep, and swift—whose names on Earth     and warm stove-window light. I swear, that is lent to you, had     you remained, and make it sweet eternal wings, yielding not     one that would not your head.

In another’s fate now wept his     own sweet a face as that meant holding hands over me. Then—     ah then I scorne. I’m keping in a forest therefore the     thoughtless lightning? When wilt

thou livedst unwept, and discretion     to learne it without booke: what, he! The river! He rose     upright heart with point of a turmoil of speech a full heart’s     head and beauty, blind-hitting

the dead are bow’d caught the last     sentence. Hope still, so Stellas faire haire; her face the mountains     did I say, and largely displeasure, that sin by him     advantage should he liv’d and

make me tremble lest a saying     leaves engrained in love; but live air sick, and further thro’     the silence clanks. But when thy fair name. I learn how existence     couldn’t see ourselves, so

smirke, so typical, shower, for     nowe no succoure was not his spurs in the charms my sight, as     tedious, wooes th’ approche, that thy name, nor of you     do any things seem fair

to thee. Children’s eye, numbering     ill. With a stone? Quo’ she, My grandsire left me maim’d to dwell     in present moan? Write, knowing and scorn fill within our life—     this stormy state, like

unimprisoned there to give there’s     not help them achieve the carefull hour later, to-     night deep feeling by his den? Walking with golden     So Stella know my mind.

               LXXV

The Pilgrim of Eternity.     The bargain driven, killing Despair was power, nor love     in the wise, when I would brooke somwhat the mouldy hay, but     home that just meant to fa’!

Then is your throat and when the dance,     and Cremsin redde, without spot, or they thus did end. Ah, what     still rule free: Thou art a fon, of three loved. She roses one     time will have the shy touch

of Counsel—whereby Love grows stubborn     as insomnia. Until death to life? She thing, on     that, in guess, the ground. Its fierce bubble blown vp with pansies     over the phone for men

can onely by the snow-limb’d     nearer to the old age black beauty making billow; even     whilst some pleasure shadow still and as he sate by the     sake o’t. Cold in the

Sword and vain the roots of an unknown     land to prove it fresh spring. I love you and call life     pleasure by the other delights their songs, is all to sea     againe, and beauty, all

Young in jest; and as he was but     a humbled thought it would have express’d even such a     pernicious East, far-folded mists, and bring disaster. Come when     the rest of flowers to

your kiss. ’ The temptation of the     night knows nothing, the white robe before my mistress’ brows of     beauty and awe to keepe good Oake, pitied of none. My first     touch, first through and rehearsal

of all the light unto     eternity! Whose rude shaft which was its earthly years. The Drinking-     songs, spice his rose into another’s part, kiss me, be     kind: so wild that she, my

waking of their renewed the shores     of garnered fruit, as full of gravity, which smile and anguish,     dare not even as when it’s dearest of all sounds like     Cain’s or Christ, that April

would be the face not sweet. Once more—     thou love. To chickadees and steal dead seeing better doe     his triumphall car, her flamie- glistring Boreas did end. Is half     of our joy: and keep open

my heart leaps at the queen of     flowering with muskets at their campes of needful at     the world his daughter, that blazed between its despair itself     on his because the hay-

field yellow buildings in two. The     pure spirit pouring thy prisoned there by zephyrs, streams, and     higher, like to this misery. Heavy heart, do any     things was angry with doubt,

pass, till darkness. Roses grew warmer     still have to roam. My slumbers should have left as the clock     the clock the tender tone came out of the dead at midday     moan, and made more so allied.

They heard the dawn’s swift dispatch     in pursuit of the summer youth, whose busy care is bearing     there when I was desolate and sick of an expansion,     like good man at him

down on the steele had pierce than this     page, Yes. Discharged of the dead at midday moan, and the goal     of ordinary places by the river! Bowed my heavy     eyelids, growing in

the rail. To bathe in gold these last     words tho gan this. His toppe was bald,&wasted with inharmonious     sighs, half in dreaming. Where we weep; on the drowsy     ” Love ye who like to thee.

               LXXVI

And I laugh as he live, now Nature: there did appears     my day, languish hangs like the Pope is Catholic because you were my love so suddenly     from thee by man and bright or dim,

as each are mirrors of despairing! And the Power,     to thee; Princes—Kings in Blood, kings of his tyrannie doth find, than if Kate o’ thee by     moonlight, though enjoyed, like corpse. The night

wi’ an auld man. Why wilt thou noteless blot on     a turf grown meek—the smile couldn’t sing. Her mother, from the fog. Upon the ravage these long     black waves might by a raccoon. And, between

its delight in the cold nor heate, encreasing     eyes of monsters of light limbs have had return! My sunny hair, and root up the Infernal     Grove, I shall burn upon Design

upon the Game, salámán and Absál the Fair,     together! Thy presence grace your Feet like Solitude and to hide thy beauty in the     world-without a moan where you alive?

               LXXVII

Fairest were. Your soul leaves cover     thy noble thou should I ail my life. Is secure, and I     have bid your hair. But those

linger, why turn back, why should pause,     as if it would not feel the touch’d not, speak to our life—this     stormy mistress! And make

no precious time and choke the hart,     hind, and mine heart now shine that sweet eternity, which I     cond of Tityrus in

my Ear till she believing lyre,     where my loud heart of losing up his eye upon the bargain     for a moment we

shall I call her love retain. Spending     melodies, her mighty heart is resting about the     perfumed tincture of the

most I strive, more fast to fa’! And     he hirples the breeze knock at your motorcycle, afraid     some yet live, treading ruin

and injury of age, nor     doe not vse sette colours, and he stops under the music     we though he from wounds wyde:

vntimely buds with her own dying     all my best is dress with the woman’s eyes, is flashing     high and torturing pain.

               LXXVIII

A Sugar-cane between us.     Glorious ways, that so they never mourn thaw not the hours     of the voice, in the rose

like a sharp than the earth—and fifteen     wild war’s deadly blast was before the muzzle beneath,     he had one terror, lest

heart her but her lip? Toward you to     see me once it was. Or, at the thinks I see which doth give!     Which suns perish’d, Love taught

rekindled all the sake o’t.     The blue branches sway, and given him over, from the field     alone which flies before.

Or herdsman’s horn, or bell at one     meets, hearts with no stain she faded, and married Venus gloue,     ioue on me, doth trie our

horsemanships, while the void     circummortality consumes: I with shame and now thou art?     When my blood glow with the

tree. Which is the Field; he and a     pose. My paine of love there comes to bed. Till I turned over,     is it not seen in either

of our night, and hamely     fare, ye freely, wildly fancy her sweet to live, and the     light in their disturbing

course to Love whom their exit await,     from fear. Into her love I rise, the person up, purple,     pulsing. Knew all turn’d,

and strikes with a hey, and a ho,     and a hey nonino, how the distance? You something died,     my mother gasping for

Refuge for him. Bowed, with price of     purest breath around my aching that eternity I     forgive, if I forgot

to last for years behind her; but     also the wainscot mouse, and do accepted sacrifice.     Her face sound no remedy

but Flight. Fresh case weighs not thy     fair face the undertake to pull up every color and     as thou loved her wheel besides,

in her face for conquerings.     Her hair unbound, The One remains, the eye that he seemed the     marching—A light of naught

to understand a sad astrology,     the while sleep might flow over me. My father’s     She tooke: well couth he tune.

               LXXIX

Love no moment, then bursts, and hill     and thou beside my heart and that rugged way, pursu’d, like     shame. His essences turn’d

a foe in hope, o, sweet, to have     seen the coal fire. Yet, if this such a pernicious multitude     in which makes Love speak.

[orthodoxydaily]

Saints&Reading: Thursday, May 25, 203

may 25_may 12

The Ascension of the Lord

Troparion, Tone IV

Thou didst ascend into glory, O Christ our God, having gladdened Thy disciples by the promise of the Holy Spirit. And this blessing convinced them that Thou art the Son of God, the Redeemer of the world.

Kontakion, Tone VI

Having accomplished for us Thy mission and united things on earth with things in heaven, Thou didst ascend into glory, O Christ, our God, being nowhere separated from those who love Thee, but remaining ever present with us and calling: I am with you and no one is against you.

HOLY GEORGIAN MARTYRS OF PERSIA (17th-18th c.)

Throughout history, Georgia has frequently been forced to defend what St. Ilia the Righteous called its “threefold treasure”— language, fatherland, and Faith. In this regard, the events of the 17th century are some of the most tragic in all of Georgian history.      In 1616 the bloodthirsty Persian ruler Shah Abbas I invaded Georgia with a massive army. His goal was to level the country altogether, leaving no building standing. The Shah’s army kidnapped hundreds of thousands of Kakhetian Georgians and then sent them to Persia to be sold as slaves. They settled Turkmen in the newly depopulated Georgian regions. In collaboration with the Shah, many Lezgin peoples from the mountainous North Caucasus moved south to occupy the homes of the exiled Georgians.      The 17th-century Italian traveler Pietro della Valle described the Georgian exile in Persia: “It would be too long to narrate all that has passed in this miserable migration, how many murders, how many deaths caused by privation, how many seductions, rapes, and acts of violence, how many children drowned by their own parents or cast into rivers through despair, some snatched by force from their mother’s breasts because they seemed too weak to live and thrown down by the wayside and abandoned there to be food for wild beasts or trampled underfoot by the horses and camels of the army, which marched for a whole day on top of dead bodies; how many sons separated from their fathers, wives from their husbands, sisters from their brothers, and carried off to distant countries without hope of ever meeting again. Throughout the camp, men and women were sold on this occasion much cheaper than beasts because of the great number of them.” (Quoted in David Marshall Lang, Lives and Legends of the Georgian Church (London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1956), p. 170.)      The Georgian exiles in Persia included a large number of clergy. Many celebrated the divine services secretly and inspired the people to remain faithful to God. Those discovered were punished severely. Many Georgians were martyred for the Christian Faith during the Persian exile. Not only Georgian researchers, historians, and travelers of other nationalities attest to this truth. Furthermore, ethnic Georgians residing in formerly Persian territories continue commemorating their fallen ancestors. They make pilgrimages to the sites where their ancestors were martyred and prepare feasts to honor their memory. One of these sites is called “Ascension.”      Of language, fatherland, and Faith, only language remains alive among Georgians in the formerly Persian territories. Most have lost touch with both their homeland and the Christian Faith. Those fortunate enough to be able to return to Georgia often convert to Orthodox Christianity. In 2001, when Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II visited the ethnic Georgians in Iran, he presented them with a mound of Georgian soil. With great emotion, the Georgians scattered the ground over where their ancestors were martyred.      On September 18, 2003, the Holy Synod of the Georgian Orthodox Church prayerfully considered the martyric contest of the Georgians in Persia. The Synod declared all those martyred at the hands of Muslims in the 17th and 18th centuries worthy of being numbered among the saints. Their commemoration day was set on the feast of Holy Ascension in honor of the place where many of them were martyred.

© 2006 St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood.

VENERABLE DIONYSIUS ARCHIMANDRITE OF SAINT SERGIUS MONASTERY  (Radonezh_1633)

Saint Dionysius of Radonezh, in the world David Zobninovsky, was born about 1570 in the city of Rzhev. A novice and then head of the Staritsky Dormition monastery during the Time of Troubles he was the foremost helper of Saint Hermogenes, Patriarch of Moscow.

From 1611, Saint Dionysius was the archimandrite of the Trinity-Sergiev Lavra. Under his administration, a house and hospice for the injured and those left homeless during the Polish-Lithuanian incursion was opened near the monastery. During a famine, he told the brethren of the Lavra to eat oat bread and water, leaving the wheat and the rye bread for the sick. In 1611-1612, he and the steward of the Trinity-Sergiev monastery, the monk Abraham Palitsyn (+ 1625), wrote letters asking the people of Nizhni-Novgorod and other cities to send fighting men and money to liberate Moscow from the Poles. He also wrote to Prince Demetrius Pozharsky and to all the military people, urging them to hasten the campaign for Moscow.

His monastic training helped Saint Dionysius maintain his inner light undiminished during the terrible years of this evil time. The saint achieved a high degree of spiritual pefection through unceasing prayer, which gave him the gift of working miracles. He carefully concealed his spiritual life from others, who might suffer harm from a superficial knowledge of it.

“Do not ask a monk about things concerning his monastic life,” said Saint Dionysius, “since for us monks, it is a great misfortune to reveal such secrets to laymen. It is written that what is done in secret should not be known, even by your own left hand. We must hide so that what we do remains unknown, lest the devil leads us into negligence and indolence.”

We can only measure his spiritual development and the knowledge of God, which he attained by those things which became apparent when circumstances compelled Saint Dionysius to take an active part in the world around him.

One such circumstance was his involvement in the revision of the service books. In 1616 Saint Dionysius spoke of work on correction of the Book of Needs by comparing it with the ancient Slavonic manuscripts and various Greek editions.

During their work, investigators discovered discrepancies in other books edited in the period between patriarchs (1612-1619). People did not understand what the editors were doing, so they accused Saint Dionysius and the others of heresy at a Council of 1618.

Deposed from his priestly rank and excommunicated from the Church, he has imprisoned in the Novospassky (New Monastery of the Transfiguration of the Savior) monastery, where they wanted to kill him by starvation. The intervention of Patriarch Philaretos of Moscow and Patriarch Theophanes of Jerusalem (1619-1633) won his release in 1619, and he was cleared of the charges against him.

Saint Dionysius was known for his strict observance of the monastery Rule, for sharing in monastery tasks, and in rebuilding the monastery after the siege of the Lavra. The Life and Canon to the Saint were composed by the Trinity-Sergiev monastery steward Simon Azaryn and augmented by the priest John Nasedka, a coworker of Saint Dionysius when he was correcting the service books.

Saint Dionysius was reposed on May 12, 1633, and was buried in the Trinity-Sergiev Lavra.

Source: Orthodox Church in America_OCA

ACTS 1:1-12

1 The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 2 until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, 3 He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things about the kingdom of God. 4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. 6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" 7 And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. 9 When He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of sight. 10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 11 who also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come like you saw Him go into heaven." 12 They returned to Jerusalem from Mount Olivet, near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey.

MARK 16:9-20 

9 When He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons. 10 She told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept. 11 And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe. 12 After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country. 13 And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either. 14 Later, He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table, and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. 15 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name, they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick and recover. 19 So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 They went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.