Mr. Apollinax
| WHEN Mr. Apollinax visited the United States | |
| His laughter tinkled among the teacups. | |
| I thought of Fragilion, that shy figure among the birch-trees, | |
| And of Priapus in the shrubbery | |
| Gaping at the lady in the swing. | 5 |
| In the palace of Mrs. Phlaccus, at Professor Channing-Cheetah's | |
| He laughed like an irresponsible foetus. | |
| His laughter was submarine and profound | |
| Like the old man of the sea's | |
| Hidden under coral islands | 10 |
| Where worried bodies of drowned men drift down in the green silence, | |
| Dropping from fingers of surf. | |
| I looked for the head of Mr. Apollinax rolling under a chair | |
| Or grinning over a screen | |
| With seaweed in its hair. | 15 |
| I heard the beat of centaur's hoofs over the hard turf | |
| As his dry and passionate talk devoured the afternoon. | |
| "He is a charming man"--"But after all what did he mean?"-- | |
| "His pointed ears.... He must be unbalanced,"-- | |
| "There was something he said that I might have challenged." | 20 |
| Of dowager Mrs. Phlaccus, and Professor and Mrs. Cheetah | |
| I remember a slice of lemon, and a bitten macaroon. |