 | The Marriage Before Death, And Other Poems |  |
I.—VENUS.
Back, back to Venus, perfect as a rose,
My soul went: worshipped in her inmost bower
The world's one comfort—yea, the world's one flower,
Whence ever love's ethereal perfume flows.
Ah! how the white breast, kissed and fondled, glows—
How deep delight fast waxes hour by hour—
How the soft outspread limbs of Venus shower
Rapture, and peace no saint of heaven knows.
My soul went: worshipped in her inmost bower
The world's one comfort—yea, the world's one flower,
Whence ever love's ethereal perfume flows.
Ah! how the white breast, kissed and fondled, glows—
How deep delight fast waxes hour by hour—
How the soft outspread limbs of Venus shower
Rapture, and peace no saint of heaven knows.
Here I abide; the scent is on my hands
And on my tongue, and all my soul partakes
The souls of blossoms plucked in strange dim lands—
Now over me some spell Queen Venus shakes,
And I am mute awaiting her commands,
Watching her eyes of laughter as she wakes.
And on my tongue, and all my soul partakes
The souls of blossoms plucked in strange dim lands—
Now over me some spell Queen Venus shakes,
And I am mute awaiting her commands,
Watching her eyes of laughter as she wakes.
| The Marriage Before Death, And Other Poems | |