 | 'Twixt Kiss and Lip or Under the Sword. By the author of "Women Must Weep," [i.e. F. W. O. Ward] Third edition |  |
STOLEN WATERS.
Sweeter they seemed than earthly draught,
Kinder than cup of Heaven,
Held to the lips that lightly quaffed,
Flushed with their fiery leaven;
Sweeter they seemed, than music drawn
Deep from the heart of mountains,
First to receive the kiss of dawn,
Kindling the poet's fountains;
Sweeter than treasure from the spring,
Guarded by Hesper's daughters,
Sweeter than life's last blossoming—
Rapture of stolen waters.
Kinder than cup of Heaven,
Held to the lips that lightly quaffed,
Flushed with their fiery leaven;
Sweeter they seemed, than music drawn
Deep from the heart of mountains,
First to receive the kiss of dawn,
Kindling the poet's fountains;
Sweeter than treasure from the spring,
Guarded by Hesper's daughters,
Sweeter than life's last blossoming—
Rapture of stolen waters.
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Sweeter he sought, a wicked love,
New, if it brought not better,
Tired of the old as faded glove,
Found for the time a fetter;
Drank of another's sacred well,
Pleasures of sin, confusion
Mixed with the madness of the spell,
Balm that was but delusion;
Drank with the hot voluptuous lip,
Moulded to lust and laughter,
Only to reap the Erinnyes' whip,
Death in the bowl hereafter.
New, if it brought not better,
Tired of the old as faded glove,
Found for the time a fetter;
Drank of another's sacred well,
Pleasures of sin, confusion
Mixed with the madness of the spell,
Balm that was but delusion;
Drank with the hot voluptuous lip,
Moulded to lust and laughter,
Only to reap the Erinnyes' whip,
Death in the bowl hereafter.
Sweeter it seemed, what could not cloy
Hurried embrace or greeting
Snatched in the dark, the fearful joy
Wrung from a guilty meeting;
Passionate words in secret nooks,
Dearer from tread of dangers,
Fugitive signs, and furtive looks
Flashed and returned with strangers;
Twining of arms and bosom beats,
Sobbing and sighs, and hidden
Graces revealed in dim retreats,
Precious because forbidden.
Hurried embrace or greeting
Snatched in the dark, the fearful joy
Wrung from a guilty meeting;
Passionate words in secret nooks,
Dearer from tread of dangers,
Fugitive signs, and furtive looks
Flashed and returned with strangers;
Twining of arms and bosom beats,
Sobbing and sighs, and hidden
Graces revealed in dim retreats,
Precious because forbidden.
Sweeter it seemed, the moment's bliss
Gone ere it grew quite certain,
Drowned in the serpent's damning hiss,
Coiled in the shadow's curtain;
Oh, but the sorrow came like night,
Followed like lava surges,
Changed to despair the wild delight,
Tender caress to scourges;
Honey, that mocked the hungry mouth,
Passed like the swallow's twitter,
Turned to the grave's devouring drouth
Life, with its ashes bitter.
Gone ere it grew quite certain,
Drowned in the serpent's damning hiss,
Coiled in the shadow's curtain;
Oh, but the sorrow came like night,
Followed like lava surges,
Changed to despair the wild delight,
Tender caress to scourges;
Honey, that mocked the hungry mouth,
Passed like the swallow's twitter,
Turned to the grave's devouring drouth
Life, with its ashes bitter.
| 'Twixt Kiss and Lip or Under the Sword. By the author of "Women Must Weep," [i.e. F. W. O. Ward] Third edition | |