 | 'Twixt Kiss and Lip or Under the Sword. By the author of "Women Must Weep," [i.e. F. W. O. Ward] Third edition |  |
INNOCENCE.
I met a Maiden who seemed wondrous fair,
As I was rushing headlong forth to win
The crownèd folly that is only sin,
Down the gay slopes of pleasure's golden stair;
As I was rushing headlong forth to win
The crownèd folly that is only sin,
Down the gay slopes of pleasure's golden stair;
She had a snow-white lily in her hair,
And though around her broke the eddying din
Of dancing feet, yet as she entered in,
All hushed and holy grew like summer air.
And though around her broke the eddying din
Of dancing feet, yet as she entered in,
All hushed and holy grew like summer air.
She stopped me, ere I gained the enchanted room,
That rioted with beauty and with bloom,
Whatever pampers the voluptuous sense;
That rioted with beauty and with bloom,
Whatever pampers the voluptuous sense;
She laid the lily on my bosom tense
With passion beats, and said “Seek not thy doom,
But wear this flower whose name is Innocence.”
With passion beats, and said “Seek not thy doom,
But wear this flower whose name is Innocence.”
| 'Twixt Kiss and Lip or Under the Sword. By the author of "Women Must Weep," [i.e. F. W. O. Ward] Third edition | |