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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


HER MUSIC by MARTHA GILBERT DICKINSON

First Line: IT TREMBLED OFF THE KEYS - A PARTING KISS
Last Line: OF VIOLETS AND LOVE AND DEATH.

IT trembled off the keys, -- a parting kiss
So sweet, -- the angel slept upon his sword
As through the gate of Paradise we swept, --
Partakers of creation's primal bliss!
-- The air was heavy with the breath
Of violets and love till death. --
Forgetful of eternal banishment --
Deep down the dusk of passion-haunted ways,
Lost in the dreaming alchemies of tone, --
Drenched in the dew no other wings frequent,
-- Our thirsting hearts drank in the breath
Of violets and love in death. --
There was no world, no flesh, no boundary line, --
Spirit to spirit, -- chord and dissonance,
Beyond the jealousy of space or time
Her life in one low cry broke over mine!
-- The waking angel drew a shuddering breath
Of violets and love and death.



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