Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, BEYOND POSSESSION, by JOHN FREEMAN


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

BEYOND POSSESSION, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Had it been you
Last Line: Your eyes and my eyes.
Subject(s): Eyes; Love; Man-woman Relationships; Sight; Male-female Relations


HAD it been you
Surely I must have known
I should have known you even in some wild
Bold bright disguise.
Could you (how could you?) even deceive my eyes
My thoughts had known,
Sudden towards you had flown
In merry and sweet surprise.

Had it been you
I know I must have known.
A poor wretch seven days blinded feels the light
Fingering his eyes,
Feels the earth's pleasantness before him rise. ...
Your breath had crept
Into my body though I slept,
Or laboured with dull eyes.

—Unless the thought of you
Possessing me with peace
Made all things else empty and purposeless.
So that my eyes,
Dazzled therewith as by deep starry skies,
Saw nothing more,
Not even the body's grace you bore
Gloriously before my eyes.

Yes, the thought of you
(Boldly shall I confess?)
Than mere possession of you is how much more
Never such bliss
As when my thoughts upgathering your thoughts kiss,
And you so simply turn to me
As the clear moon to the unhedged sea—
Your eyes and my eyes.





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