Beside him, with a kiss: the route rolled on capricious as the sea.

I was his bride: his love, always a god’s,

Saw not my state, nor asked from whence I came;

With him the passion was a living thing and not a naked name.

I was again a wife: my days were spent

In waking dreams of uncontrolled delight;

The light expired in feast and song and dance, unheeded in its flight.

And Night, with Venus sparkling on her brow,

Sat on the mountain top; the nightingale

Breathed an undying hymn to deathless love from every silent vale.