Date: 1922

"I plucked my soul out of its secret place, / And held it to the mirror of my eye, / To see it like a star against the sky, / A twitching body quivering in space, / A spark of passion shining on my face."

— McKay, Claude (1889-1948)

Date: 1922

"Desire destroys, consumes my mortal fears, / Transforming me into a shape of flame. / I will come out, back to your world of tears, / A stronger soul within a finer frame."

— McKay, Claude (1889-1948)

Date: 1922

"Your lustrous-warm eyes are too sadly kind / To mask the meaning of your dreamy tale, / Your guarded life too exquisitely frail / Against the daggers of my warring mind."

— McKay, Claude (1889-1948)

Date: 1922

"You yielded to my touch with gentle grace, / And though my passion was a mighty wave / That buried you beneath its strong embrace, / You were yet happy in the moment's grave."

— McKay, Claude (1889-1948)

Date: 1922

"The joy in your maturity at length, / The peace that filled my soul like cooling wine, / When you responded to my tender strength, / And pressed your heart exulting into mine."

— McKay, Claude (1889-1948)

Date: 1922

"How shall I with such memories of you / In coarser forms of love fruition find? / No, I would rather like a ghost pursue / The fairy phantoms of my lonely mind."

— McKay, Claude (1889-1948)

Date: 1922

"All night, through the eternity of night, / Pain was my portion though I could not feel. / Deep in my humbled heart you ground your heel, / Till I was reft of even my inner light, / Till reason from my mind had taken flight, / And all my world went whirling in a reel."

— McKay, Claude (1889-1948)

Date: 1922

"I do not fear to face the fact and say, / How darkly-dull my living hours have grown, / My wounded heart sinks heavier than stone, / Because I loved you longer than a day!"

— McKay, Claude (1889-1948)

Date: 1922

"The mists will shroud me on the utter height, / The salty, brimming waters of my breast / Will mingle with the fresh dews of the night / To bathe my spirit hankering to rest."

— McKay, Claude (1889-1948)