I had a sudden vision in the night— I did not sleep, I dare not say I dreamed— Beside my bed a pallid ladder gleamed And lifted upward to the sky's dim height: And every rung shone strangely in that light, And every rung a woman's body seemed, Outstretched, and down the sides her long hair streamed, And you—you climbed that ladder of delight! You climbed, sure-footed, naked rung by rung, Clasped them and trod them, called them by their name, And my name too I heard you speak at last; You stood upon my breast the while and flung A hand up to the next! And then—oh shame— I kissed the foot that bruised me as it passed. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...I'M GOING BACK TO SOMETHING by DAVID IGNATOW IMPELLED by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON THE EXPANDED COMPOSITION by CLARENCE MAJOR TO HELEN KELLER - HUMANITARIAN, SOCIAL DEMOCRAT, GREAT SOUL by EDWIN MARKHAM SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: TOM MERRITT by EDGAR LEE MASTERS |