 | The poems of Madison Cawein |  |
299
NYMPH AND FAUN
With her soft face half turned to me
Like an arrested moonbeam, she
Stood in the cirque of that deep tree.
Like an arrested moonbeam, she
Stood in the cirque of that deep tree.
I took her by the hands; she raised
Her face to mine; and, half amazed,
I kissed her; and we stood and gazed.
Her face to mine; and, half amazed,
I kissed her; and we stood and gazed.
How good to kiss her throat and hair,
And say no word!—Her throat was bare,
And, as the slim moon, young and fair.—
And say no word!—Her throat was bare,
And, as the slim moon, young and fair.—
Had God not given us life for this?
The world-old, amorous happiness
Of arms that clasp, and lips that kiss.
The world-old, amorous happiness
Of arms that clasp, and lips that kiss.
O eloquence of limbs and arms!
O rhetoric of breasts, whose charms
Say to the sluggish blood what warms!
O rhetoric of breasts, whose charms
Say to the sluggish blood what warms!
300
Had God not smiled upon this hour
That bloomed,—where love had all of power,—
The senses' aphrodisiac flower?
That bloomed,—where love had all of power,—
The senses' aphrodisiac flower?
The dawn was far away: the night
Hung savage stars of sultry white,
Lamp-like, above to give us light.
Hung savage stars of sultry white,
Lamp-like, above to give us light.
Night, night, who led us each to each,
Where heart with heart could hold sweet speech,
With life's best gift within our reach.
Where heart with heart could hold sweet speech,
With life's best gift within our reach.
And here it was—between the goals
Of flesh and spirit, sex controls—
Took place the marriage of our souls.
Of flesh and spirit, sex controls—
Took place the marriage of our souls.
| The poems of Madison Cawein | |