Versos English Algernon Charles Swinburne Aholah

English poem

Aholah

by

Listen in the reader

I am the queen of Amalek. There was no tender touch or fleck To spoil my body or bared feet. My words were soft like dulcimers, And the first sweet of grape-flowers Made each side of my bosom sweet. My raiment was as tender fruit Whose rind smells sweet of spice-tree root, Bruised balm-blossom and budded wheat.