
Don Juan Canto 11 (An Excerpt)
By Lord Byron
XXXIII
Some rumour also of some strange adventures
. . Had gone before him, and his wars and loves;
And as romantic heads are pretty painters,
. . And, above all, an Englishwoman’s roves
Into the excursive, breaking the indentures
. . Of sober reason, wheresoe’er it moves,
He found himself extremely in the fashion,
Which serves our thinking people for a passion.
XXXIV
I don’t mean that they are passionless, but quite
. . The contrary; but then ’tis in the head;
Yet as the consequences are as bright
. . As if they acted with the heart instead,
What after all can signify the site
Of ladies’ lucubrations? So they lead
. . In safety to the place for which you start,
What matters if the road be head or heart?
Lothario Swings at Jazz Fest
by T. A. Fry
A night in June unwavering
Clear soulful music rise!
Consorts slowly savoring
The softness of tan thighs
An encore for an instant
Beer scents a shameless sigh
The night is slowly distant
As the sax’s hunger cries
The shimmering summer solstice
Casts spells in lover’s eyes
Placing trust on notice
Where reticence resides
Lust glides on twilight’s kisses
Quivering quietly with folly’s need
Loneliness swings and misses
As Lothario goes to seed