I loathed the pallid Venuses and Eves,

Nymph-nudity, and Sorceress and Thrall;

The Wings prismatic, the metallic Leaves—

I loathed them one and all.

I howled aloud, "I would no more behold

A witch, an angel, or a saint.

Aught mediæval-mystic, classic-cold,

Or cinque-cento quaint.

"It may be that my taste has come to grief,

But if the spectral, dismal, dry,