BREAK not the slumbers of the bride, But let the sun in triumph ride, Scattering his beamy light; When she awakes, he shall resign His rays, and she alone shall shine In glory all the night. For she, till day return, must keep An amorous vigil, and not steep Her fair eyes in the dew of sleep. Yet gently whisper, as she lies, And say her lord waits her uprise, The priests at the altar stay; With flow'ry wreaths the virgin crew Attend, while some with roses strew, And myrtles trim, the way. Now to the temple and the priest See her convey'd, thence to the feast; Then back to bed, though not to rest: For now, to crown his faith and truth, We must admit the noble youth To revel in Love's sphere; To rule, as chief Intelligence, That orb, and happy time dispense To wretched lovers here. For there exalted far above All hope, fear, change, are they to move The wheel that spins the fates of Love. They know no night, nor glaring noon, Measure no hours of sun or moon, Nor mark Time's restless glass; Their kisses measure as they flow Minutes, and their embraces show The hours as they pass. Their motions the year's circle make, And we from their conjunctions take Rules to make Love an almanac. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THIRTY BOB A WEEK by JOHN DAVIDSON ON MILTON'S PARADISE LOST by ANDREW MARVELL STONEWALL JACKSON'S WAY by JOHN WILLIAMSON PALMER ARCADIA: THE BARGAIN by PHILIP SIDNEY TRAVEL by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON LET NO CHARITABLE HOPE by ELINOR WYLIE THE PLEASURES OF IMAGINATION; A POEM. ENLARGED VERSION: BOOK 1 by MARK AKENSIDE |