The Girl About To Perish* by William-Adolphe Bouguereau
Her youth was like a pagan goddess,
before whom I nearly bowed, urged by my immediately converted senses.
Then, I noticed on her skin a tiny herald of
death and breathed a huge sigh of metaphysical relief.
The feeling was so powerful - and so serene - that I failed to
notice whether it was the good or the evil in me who prompted it; and
whether it was the fool or the sage in me who felt reassured.
