The Poetical Works of George Barlow In Ten [Eleven] Volumes |
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“REVEALED AND VANQUISHED”
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| II. |
| III. |
| IV. |
| V. |
| VI. |
| VII. |
| VIII. |
| IX. |
| X. |
| XI. |
 | The Poetical Works of George Barlow |  |
95
“REVEALED AND VANQUISHED”
In many a woman all the spirit waits
Untouched, unkissed, unconquered, though the bloom
Of body many sullen lips consume
And many times high passion's flood abates.
She yearneth for soft lips beyond the tomb,
Beyond the dimly veiled eternal gates,—
Trembleth, dissembleth, pants and hesitates,
Plucks roses, dreads to smell the fierce perfume.
Untouched, unkissed, unconquered, though the bloom
Of body many sullen lips consume
And many times high passion's flood abates.
She yearneth for soft lips beyond the tomb,
Beyond the dimly veiled eternal gates,—
Trembleth, dissembleth, pants and hesitates,
Plucks roses, dreads to smell the fierce perfume.
Yet one day comes a lover keen and bold,
A head that understands, a heart that yearns:
Towards her his ardent strength of being turns;
He feels a passion never felt of old.
He is as one who, gathering gentle ferns,
Wanders along the forest, when behold!
Some undiscovered blossom of bright gold
Through the dark arches beckons him and burns.
A head that understands, a heart that yearns:
Towards her his ardent strength of being turns;
He feels a passion never felt of old.
He is as one who, gathering gentle ferns,
Wanders along the forest, when behold!
Some undiscovered blossom of bright gold
Through the dark arches beckons him and burns.
96
And she, she maddens in the kindling air,
Her swift foot pants along the vistas green;
The still secluded wood-life that has been,
That once was sweet, seems past her power to bear.
Her eyes flash forth the lightnings of a queen:
One quick convulsion, and the soul is there,
White, silent, passionate, supremely fair,
Revealed and vanquished, never more unseen.
Her swift foot pants along the vistas green;
The still secluded wood-life that has been,
That once was sweet, seems past her power to bear.
Her eyes flash forth the lightnings of a queen:
One quick convulsion, and the soul is there,
White, silent, passionate, supremely fair,
Revealed and vanquished, never more unseen.
| The Poetical Works of George Barlow | |