19 OCTOBER 1962, Page 32

Peeping Tom

He was as loyal as them all—and more; But what especially stirred his righteous nature Was that her husband used her in this way —Teased like a child, insulted like a whore— To think of it at any time was torture, But most of all on her most tortured day.

His crime was hardly lust—nothing so coarse Drove his tense fingers to the shutter's handle; He only longed to see with his own eyes The martyr's breasts her lord and tyrant fondled, To picture I.cofric thrusting like a horse Between the saintly whiteness of her thighs.

And till he died, was certain in his mind Her beauty, not his sin, had struck him blind.

FRANCIS ,HOPE