Description
Raffalovich published the following poem during the same period where he ran a salon in London. It was here where Raffalovich met his life-long partner, John Gray, through his friend Oscar Wilde. This poem describes the narrator falling in love with a man, an act considered both illegal and immoral at the time. The abab rhyme scheme creates an innocent sing-song effect, while the emphasis on the pleasures of Love create juxtaposition with the ideas of Vice, Crime, and Sin.
Text
The lips of Vice were painted,
The face of Vice was white,
Love passed on unacquainted,
Intent on Love's delight.
And though Love's heart beat faster
Beneath the eyes of Crime,
His breath he strove to master,
And hummed a foolish rhyme.
But when the sun was shining
Love reached a shadowy place,
And there at last reclining
Sin had his true love's face.
Citation
White, Chris, editor. Nineteenth-century Writings on Homosexuality: A Sourcebook. Routledge, 1999.
