1898 · CLOSE READING
White Stains
White Stains (1898), PDF p. 79
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A PAEAN IN THE SPRINGTIDE
73
Sweeter than lips could have told, who loved better
only to kiss ;
Sweeter than hands could have written, who took delight
in the glories
Fierce of a triple embrace, a fadeless implacable bliss.
Love is a sword whose blade is red,
Love is a deed whose fruit is dead ;
Love is a tiger, fierce of power,
Easily fades a spring-tide flower.
Death shall come slow and soft, with the stealthy tread
of a leopard ;
While the few stars have grown dim, as he seeks for an
innocent prey.
Death shall pounce soon on the fold, where Love was a
treacherous shepherd ;
So with hot lips shall he come, ere the mountains are
silver and grey.
Life shall gasp out in the gloom, and all our desires
shall perish ;
Hope and its roseate crown shall fall in the dark to
the dust.
Love and his garland shall go, with the last of the
joys we may cherish,
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