AGAIN in my chamber! Again at my bed! With thy smile sweet as sunshine, And hand cold as lead! I know thee, I know thee! -- Nay, start not, my sweet! These golden robes shrank up, And showed me thy feet; These golden robes shrank up, And taffety thin, While out crept the symbols Of Death and of Sin! Bright, beautiful Devil! Pass, pass from me now; For the damp dew of death Gathers thick on my brow; And bind up thy girdle, Nor beauties disclose, More dazzlingly white Than the wreath-drifted snows: And away with thy kisses; My heart waxes sick, As thy red lips, like worms, Travel over my cheek! Ha! press me no more with That passionless hand, 'Tis whiter than milk, or The foam on the strand; 'Tis softer than down, or The silken-leafed flower; But colder than ice thrills Its touch at this hour. Like the finger of Death From cerements unrolled, Thy hand on my heart falls Dull, clammy, and cold. Nor bend o'er my pillow -- Thy raven black hair O'ershadows my brow with A deeper despair; These ringlets thick falling Spread fire through my brain, And my temples are throbbing With madness again. The moonlight! the moonlight! The deep-winding bay! There are TWO on that strand, And a ship far away! In its silence and beauty, Its passion and power, Love breathed o'er the land, Like the soul of a flower. The billows were chiming On pale yellow sands; And moonshine was gleaming On small ivory hands. There were bowers by the brook's brink, And flowers bursting free; There were hot lips to suck forth A lost soul from me! Now, mountain and meadow, Frith, forest, and river, Are mingling with shadows -- Are lost to me ever. The sunlight is fading, Small birds seek their nest; While happy hearts flower-like, Sink sinless to rest. But I! -- 'tis no matter; Ay, kiss cheek and chin; Kiss -- kiss -- thou hast won me, Bright, beautiful Sin! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE WALL STREET PIT, MAY, 1901 by EDWIN MARKHAM ON THE BALCONY by PAUL VERLAINE AT CASTLE WOOD by EMILY JANE BRONTE CASTOR AND POLYDEUCES by ALCAEUS OF MYTILENE AMONG THE HEATHER by WILLIAM ALLINGHAM THE BIRDS: THE BIRDS' LIFE by ARISTOPHANES THE BIRDS: THE HOOPOE'S CALL TO HIS WIFE PROCNE, THE NIGHTINGALE by ARISTOPHANES |