 | Poems by Julia C. R. Dorr |  |
167
THE KISS
When you lay before me dead,
In your pallid rest,
On those passive lips of thine
Not one kiss I pressed!
In your pallid rest,
On those passive lips of thine
Not one kiss I pressed!
Did you wonder—looking down
From some higher sphere—
Knowing how we two had loved
Many and many a year?
From some higher sphere—
Knowing how we two had loved
Many and many a year?
Did you think me strange and cold
When I did not touch,
Even with reverent finger-tips,
What I had loved so much?
When I did not touch,
Even with reverent finger-tips,
What I had loved so much?
Ah! when last you kissed me, dear,
Know you what you said?
“Take this last kiss, my beloved,
Soon shall I be dead!
Know you what you said?
“Take this last kiss, my beloved,
Soon shall I be dead!
“Keep it for a solemn sign,
Through our love's long night,
Till you give it back again
On some morning bright.”
Through our love's long night,
Till you give it back again
On some morning bright.”
So I gave you no caress;
But, remembering this,
Warm upon my lips I keep
Your last living kiss!
But, remembering this,
Warm upon my lips I keep
Your last living kiss!
| Poems by Julia C. R. Dorr | |