SUN burning down on back and loins, penetrating the skin, bathing their flanks in sweat, Where they lie naked on the warm ground, and the erns arch over them, Out in the woods, and the sweet scent of fir-needles Blends with the fragrant nearness of their bodies; In-armed together, murmuring, talking, Drunk with wine of Eros' lips, Hourlong, while the great wind rushes in the branches, And the blue above lies deep beyond the fern-fronds and fir-tips; Till, with the midday sun, fierce scorching, smiting, Up from their woodland lair they leap, and smite, And strike with wands, and wrestle, and bruise each other, In savage play and amorous despite. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...I SIT AND SEW by ALICE RUTH MOORE DUNBAR-NELSON THE ENEMY'S PORTRAIT by THOMAS HARDY SUMMER'S LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT: A LITANY IN TIME OF PLAGUE by THOMAS NASHE HESPERIA by ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE PEARLS OF THE FAITH: 53. ALLAH-AL-WAKIL by EDWIN ARNOLD THE LAY OF ST. ALOYS; A LEGEND OF BLOIS by RICHARD HARRIS BARHAM CHRISTMAS by CHARLOTTE LOUISE BERTLESEN IDYLL 16. TO THE EVENING STAR by BION JERUSALEM; THE EMANATION OF THE GIANT ALBION: CHAPTER 1 by WILLIAM BLAKE |