University of Virginia Library


23

EROS AND PSYCHE.

Psyche slumbered in a golden garden,
Eros watched her sleep with tender care,
Suffering not the sun to kiss her forehead,
Nor the breeze to stir her amber hair.
Purest visions of delight and beauty
Gave he, rainbow tissues, dazzling beams;
Still contriving that his own bright image
Should arise in her enchanted dreams.
And she sleeps, while each succeeding wonder
All her trancèd spirit thrills and charms.
When at length they fade, her eyes she opens,
With a sigh of bliss in Eros' arms.
Sees her Eros' smile, and feels his kisses
Countless as the drifted winter's flakes,
Thinks her dreams poor shadows, faint reflections,
Of the happiness to which she wakes.