“Aha! For the rapture that dazes! Wine-drained as the breast of a nun Droops the throat that my savage soul raises, Thirsting yet for the life that is done!” — Ethel Archer, The Vampire

Consider also:

  1. “WHEN I think of the hundreds of women I have loved from time to time, White throats and living bosoms where a kiss might creep or climb, Smooth eyes and trembling fingers, faint lips or murderous hair, All tunes of love’s own music, most various and rare; When I look back on life, as a mariner on the deep Sees, tranced, the white wake foaming, fancies the nereids weep; As, on a mountain summit in the thunders and the snow, I look to the shimmering valley and weep: I loved you so!”
  2. “Yet, did I raise my head, throughout the gloom I might behold thine eyes as red as fire, A tigress maddened with supreme desire. White arms that clasp me, fervent breast that glides An eager snake, about my breast and sides, And white teeth keen to bite, red tongue that tires, And lips ensanguine with unfed desires, Hot breath and hands, disheveled hair and head, Thy fevered mouth like snakes’ mouths crimson red, A very beast of prey; and I like thee, Fiery, unweary, as thou art of me.”
  3. The Birthgrave
  4. “Behold! I came with haggard mien again Into the hall, and mingled with the train, A corpse amid the dancers. Then the king Saw me, and knew me–and he knew the ring!”
  5. “The perfect cube must pass through the metamorphosis of the Cross.”