I CHASED the maid with rapid feet, Where ice and sunbeam quiver; But still beyond me, shyly fleet, She flashed far down the river. Sometimes, blown backward in the chase, With balmy, soft caresses, I felt across my glowing face The waft of perfumed tresses. Sometimes a glance she shot behind, O'er graceful shoulders turning A cheek whose tints the eager wind Had set like sunrise burning. Then, in a sudden onward glide, She rushed with even motion, As a long wave the restless tide Drives shoreward fast from ocean; And swift as some winged creature sped Far down the crystal river, Until the shining form that fled I dreamed might fly forever. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE INCENSE BURNER by ABUS SALT AT ELLIS ISLAND by MARGARET LIVINGSTON CHANLER ALDRICH THE STRAYED REVELLER by MATTHEW ARNOLD QUESTION AND ANSWER by MATHILDE BLIND PORCELAIN VASE by GAMALIEL BRADFORD ON MUSIC by WILLIAM STANLEY BRAITHWAITE SONG OF THE DOVE by FREDRIKA BREMER EPITAPH ON A SUICIDE by ROBERT BURNS BALLAD TO THE TUNE - 'I'LL DO BY THEE AS NE'ER WAS DONE' by PATRICK CAREY |