THE AWAKENING

by: Francis Saltus (1846-1889)

ER arms lie bare about his neck, and still

In dreams, her lips half open with a sigh

As though to woo her dream some sweet reply.

All slowly her enthralled senses fill.

 

As valley waters from a mountain rill

Swollen by storm. Her bosom'd treasures lie

Encircled by his arms, and still sweep by

The swelling tide into the Deep's deep will.

 

And he, too, dreams, in Love's night-hidden day--

Until the shallows, murmuring, rise and leap,

And lap the spirit within that sweet clay

Against his breast. Then lips that trysting keep,

Unconsciously, nearer and closer lay

Till sudden kisses burst the bonds of sleep.

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