A TWILIGHT FANCY

Dear, give me the tips of your fingers

To hold in this scented gloom,

'Mid the sighs of the dying roses,

That steal through the breeze-swept room;

I would have you but lightly touch me,

A phantom might stir the dress,

In its passing, of some lost lover

With just such a faint caress;

Or a butterfly wan with summer

Brush thus with his down-flecked wings

The bells of the altar lilies

He touches, and lightly rings.

So give me the tips of your fingers,

Not your hand, lest I break the spell

Of the moment with too much passion,

And lose what I love so well.