George Sterling

1869-1926 / United States

At The Lily's Heart

Within me (roguish brother!) lives a faun
Demure as any whom Arcadian bees
Made drowsy with their murmur, or the sea's
Far thunder woke on some Illyrian dawn;
And he the blue-eyed dryad on the lawn
Would fain allure with woodland sorceries,
But thou shalt see him on his bended knees,
O goddess by the bitter years withdrawn!

Lo! Passion here puts by her scarlet wreath,
And yet abideth Passion. In thy kiss
Nobility and rapture blend their hues
As stars might fashion in the flowers beneath
A symbol of my worship and its bliss,
Enmirrored for a night in earthly dews.
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