I had a sudden vision in the night— I did not sleep, I dare not say I dreamed— Beside my bed a pallid ladder gleamed And lifted upward to the sky's dim height: And every rung shone strangely in that light, And every rung a woman's body seemed, Outstretched, and down the sides her long hair streamed, And you—you climbed that ladder of delight! You climbed, sure-footed, naked rung by rung, Clasped them and trod them, called them by their name, And my name too I heard you speak at last; You stood upon my breast the while and flung A hand up to the next! And then—oh shame— I kissed the foot that bruised me as it passed. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...WOODNOTES: 2 by RALPH WALDO EMERSON A RHYMED REVIEW; 'LAUGHING MUSE' (BY ARTHUR GUITERMAN) by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS RIDDLE by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD EPITAPH FOR A CONDEMNED BOOK by CHARLES BAUDELAIRE CAGNES; ON THE RIVIERA by MATHILDE BLIND THE LOVE SONNETS OF PROTEUS: 51. FAREWELL TO JULIET (13) by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT |