Note: This is section five of the poem. See Hermetic Definition (New Directions, 1972), p. 7.
Venice--Venus? this must be my stance, my station: though you brushed aside my verse, I can't get away from it, I've tried to; true, it was "fascinating... if you can stand its preciousness," you wrote of what I wrote; why must I write? you would not care for this, but She draws the veil aside, unbinds my eyes, commands, write, write or die.