An angel of pale desire Whispered me in the ear (Ah me, the white-rose mesh Of the flower-soft, rose-white flesh!) "Love, they say, is a fire: Lo, the soft love that is here! "Love, they say, is a pain Infinite as the soul, Ever a longing to be Love's, to infinity, Ever a longing in vain After a vanishing goal. "Lo, the soft joy that I give Here in the garden of earth; Come where the rose-tree grows, Thine is the garden's rose, Weave rose-garlands, and live In ease, in indolent mirth." Then I saw that the rose was fair, And the mystical rose afar, A glimmering shadow of light, Paled to a star in the night; And the angel whispered "Beware, Love is a wandering star. "Love is a raging fire, Choose thou content instead; Thou, the child of the dust, Choose thou a delicate Lust." "Thou hast chosen!" I said To the angel of pale desire. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...PARTED by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR EPIGRAMS: BOOK I, 1 by MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIALIS BLUE CANTON-WARE by SARAH A. ATHEARN THE LAURELS ARE FELLED by THEODORE FAULLAIN DE BANVILLE WHITE GRASS by ADA BAZZACCHINI THE LITTLE ONES GREATNESS by JOSEPH BEAUMONT WHITSUNDAY 1644 by JOSEPH BEAUMONT |