NEAR THE CASCADES
Hold back thy lips, I pray;
Just let me rest this way;
My soul is in the spray
Arising from the silvery cascades murmuring farewell to the day.
Thy kisses 'neath a sigh
Of mine extinguished lie;
O friend, I choke, I die:
Pray, let me raise my head to see the parting light, the vivid sky,
If every kiss of thine
Is safely kept with mine
For one for whom I pine,
Wouldst thou, contented with the taking, call my love a love divine?
Ay, and for every tear
Thou sheddest when I'm near
I shed a score to hear
Her echo my desire's sigh, albeit she is not thy peer.
If I were but a reed,
Or but a fern or weed,
This would not be my creed;
But prick thou these cold slips and all the roots of me in heaven will bleed.
Thy burning breath is creeping
All over me; 't is leaping
Into my bones and sweeping
Their ashes out, up and into mine eyes, alas! the awful reaping.
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