And Julia sate with Juan

115

And Julia sate with Juan, half embraced
And half retir­ing from the glow­ing arm,
Which trem­bled like the bosom where’twas placed.
Yet still she must have thought there was no harm,
Or else’twere easy to with­draw her waist.
But then the sit­u­a­tion had its charm,
And then – God knows what next – I can’t go on;
I’m almost sor­ry that I e’er begun.

Image and audio extract © Peter Gal­lagher, 2012