Letting his fingers linger there a space,
Longer than there was need, so sweet she smiled,
So close they were to that soft wistful face....
The stars looked down upon them, clear and mild....
Woman and maiden, girl, and little child,—
She was all these.... A moment, he was shaken,—
Lest he do wrong, lest he might prove mistaken....
Only a moment ... passion rose again,
Quiet he took her hand and held it long,
And all her virgin heart grew big with pain,
And all her new-born body ached with song.
Blindly she prayed to God to make her strong,—
More blindly cried to earth to make her weak;
And looked at him, near tears, and could not speak.
He was a loveliness she could not bear....
Like a fierce furnace seemed his beauty now....
A fire that caught her throat, her lips, her hair,
Her parching eyes, her pained and beating brow.
Only to give herself,—she cared not how.—
Into the flame, body and soul to fling;
To have him hurt her,—ah, divinest thing!...
Four bells were struck: ’twas ten o’clock he said;
And still the sea rushed past, under the night.
The engines toiled and the great steamer sped;
And they could see the bow-wash, dimly white,
Fall into darkness; the mast-head light
Quivered among the stars, and in its fire
A span of fore-stay shone like golden wire....
Little by little they were left alone,
The decks were emptied; only, from the bar,
Came shouts and laughter, and a drunkard’s groan,
The glasses clinking, and a strummed guitar,
The door shut, and the sounds grew faint and far,
And all the deck was dark; only the sea
Lifted its great voice, like infinity.
O youth, O music, O sweet wizardy
Of young love sung like fire through beating veins!
O covering darkness and persuasive sea!
O night of stars, of blisses and of pains!
But most, O youth that but an hour remains,—
Be fierce, be sweet with us, before you go;
For knowing you the best of life we know!
Beneath his kiss her mouth rose soft and warm,
And dewy soft as rose-leaves were her eyes,
Under his hands, shaken as with a storm
He felt her soft breast fall and shudder and rise,
Torn with impassioned breath, unuttered cries,
Quivering, straining breast against his breast,
She clung to him, her mouth on his mouth pressed....
And only knew that this was life at last,
Forgot all else in agony of bliss;
Into this fire of love all earth was cast;
The stars, the sea, were mingled in this kiss.
And through her heart the blood, with sing and hiss,
Poured a red madness, surged a riotous pain,—
Unbearable music cried out in her brain....
“O love,” he said, “O let me come with you!
I love you so! This night,—O let me come!”
Ah, God have pity! she knew not what to do,
But sat all quiet,—frozen, shrinking, dumb;
And only heard the toiling engines hum,
The rush of sea, the swish of dropping spray,
Her clamorous heart; and all that she could say
Was a quick “yes,” and then a broken breath
That quivered like a sob; and then she rose,
Dizzy and weak and pale, like one near death,
And now her heart was fire, and now it froze....
Faint in her room she stood; the door to close,—
She might still turn the key.... She cried a space,—
Long in the glass stared at her pallid face....