At last I know how hard I tried
To keep the joy of love denied
From undermining all I built
In mounds of words and mounds of guilt;
And I have let love wither here
In tombs of silence, shame and fear,
As if there was in our embrace
No song to sing to bring the race;
But I have seen the Moon ascend
Your ankle, leg and Venus lend
Her diamond to your amber eyes
And fill the night and me with sighs;
And only silence makes a sin
Of hawthorn on your breath and chin.