Public-domain source text

The Ordeal

by William Carlos Williams

From Standard Ebooks · standardebooks/william-carlos-williams_poetry

O Crimson salamander, Because of love’s whim sacred! Swim the winding flame Predestined to disman him And bring our fellow home to us again.

Swim in with watery fang, Gnaw out and drown The fire roots that circle him Until the Hell-flower dies down And he comes home again.

Aye, bring him home, O crimson salamander, That I may see he is unchanged with burning⁠— Then have your will with him, O crimson salamander.

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This is a source transcription from Standard Ebooks, published in Past Poetry’s public-domain archive without line-by-line editorial notes. Public-domain source edition. Availability can vary by territory.

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