And clumsily groped amid the gold,
Sleek with night dews, of that tangling hair,
Till pricked his finger keen and cold
The barb imbedded there.
Teeth clenched, he drew his knife—'Snip, snip,'—
Groaned, and sate shivering back; and she,
Treading the water with birdlike dip,
Shook her sweet shoulders free:
Drew backward, smiling, infatuate fair,
His life's disasters in her eyes,