TO BE a sweetness more desired than Spring; A bodily beauty more acceptable Than the wild rose-tree's arch that crowns the fell; To be an essence more environing Than wine's drained juice; a music ravishing More than the passionate pulse of Philomel;-- To be all this 'neath one soft bosom's swell That is the flower of life:--how strange a thing! How strange a thing to be what Man can know But as a sacred secret! Heaven's own screen Hides her soul's purest depth and loveliest glow; Closely withheld, as all things most unseen,-- The wave-bowered pearl,--the heart-shaped seal of green That flecks the snowdrop underneath the snow. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...LINES WRITTEN IN KENSINGTON GARDENS by MATTHEW ARNOLD BALLAD OF HUMAN LIFE by THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES ROBINSON CRUSOE ['S STORY, OR ISLAND] by CHARLES EDWARD CARRYL ON THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST by WILLIAM DUNBAR THE VANISHING RED by ROBERT FROST THE MARTYRS OF THE MAINE by RUPERT HUGHES THE SCRUTINY; SONG by RICHARD LOVELACE |