RHAPSODIES.
I.
You kissed me, my head dropped low on your breast,
With a feeling of shelter and infinite rest,
While the holy emotion my tongue dared not speak
Flushed up like a flame from my heart to my cheek!
Your arms held me fast! Oh, your arms were so bold!
Heart responded to heart in that passionate fold!
Your glances seemed drawing my soul through mine eyes,
As the sun draws the mist from the sea to the skies.
And your lips clung to mine till I prayed, in my bliss,
They might never unclasp from that rapturous kiss!
You kissed me! my heart and my breast and my will
In delicious delight for the moment stood still!
Life had for me then no temptations, no charms,
No vista of pleasure outside of your arms!
And were I this moment an angel possessed
Of the glory and peace that belong to the blest,
I would cast my white robes unrepiningly down,
And tear from my forehead its beautiful crown,
To nestle once more in that haven of rest,
With your lips pressed to mine, and my head on your breast!
You kissed me! my soul in a bliss so divine
Reeled and swooned like a man that is drunken with wine!
And I thought, ’twere delicious to die then, if death
Would come while my lips were still moist with your breath!
’Twere delicious to die, if my heart might grow cold
While your arms wrapped me fast in that passionate hold!
And these are the questions I ask day and night:
Must my life taste but once such exquisite delight?
Would you care if my breast were your shelter as then?
And if I were there would you kiss me again?
II.
You kissed me: your arms round my neck were entwined,
As the vine to the oak clings when pressed by the wind;
Your breath, zephyr-like from some lone balmy isle,
Shed a fragrance that heightened the charm of your smile,
And banished all care, as the sun at mid-day
Dispels the dark clouds which obscure his bright way.
And now, as fond memory, with tints bright and rare,
Paints thy rich coral lips as Love hovers there,
I ask but one boon may be granted to me,—
That I, like the oak, may forever shield thee.
III.
You kissed me, and responsively my lips to yours were pressed,
While trembling came a long-drawn sigh deep from that throbbing breast.
Your cheeks were bathed in blushes, while those pouting lips revealed
That secret I had burned to know, yet you’d so long concealed;
You loved me. With what ecstasy did I your form embrace,
And kiss away the starting tear which marred that beauteous face!
And now when absent, darling, my thoughts revert to thee,
Thine image is reflected here, true as reality,
And ever thus it will remain, in colors pure and bright,
As a meteor in the sky, love, amid the gloom of night.
