THE RED SONG
And flooded me in the tide of hers,
Yielded to me from the first, kissed me, bound me,
Lent her warm breathingness to my fresh embrace. . . .
But ever when these preludes of love were done,
She fled from me, like a flame before a lifted wave.
Yielded to me from the first, kissed me, bound me,
Lent her warm breathingness to my fresh embrace. . . .
But ever when these preludes of love were done,
She fled from me, like a flame before a lifted wave.
She did not pass away from me,
She did not die, nor prove faithless.
But ever between me and those havening brown eyes
A bar was raised, that I could not overleap,
A gate was lowered, that left me shivering without,
A gulf was opened, whose depth was infinity.
She fled from me, fled from me, my beloved.
Even as at the due time of passion
I drew back from her.
We and a third, her first lover, raised the bar,
Let fall the gate, split wide the impassable gulf.
She did not die, nor prove faithless.
But ever between me and those havening brown eyes
A bar was raised, that I could not overleap,
A gate was lowered, that left me shivering without,
A gulf was opened, whose depth was infinity.
She fled from me, fled from me, my beloved.
Even as at the due time of passion
I drew back from her.
We and a third, her first lover, raised the bar,
Let fall the gate, split wide the impassable gulf.
Blinded, I turned from her,
And flung myself through the eager throng of womankind,
Seeking in them my beloved.
And flung myself through the eager throng of womankind,
Seeking in them my beloved.
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