What is this reverence in extreme delight That waits upon my kisses as they storm, Vehemently, this height Of steep and inaccessible delight; And seems with newer ecstasy to warm Their slackening ardour, and invite, From nearer heaven, the swarm Of hiving stars with mortal sweetness down? Never before Have I endured an exaltation So exquisite in anguish, and so sore In promise and possession of full peace. Cease not, O nevermore Cease, To lift my joy, as upon windy wings, Into that infinite ascension, where, In baths of glittering air, It finds a heaven and like an angel sings. Heaven waits above, There where the clouds and fastnesses of love Lift earth into the skies; And I have seen the glimmer of the gates, And twice or thrice Climbed half the difficult way, Only to say Heaven waits, Only to fall away from paradise. But now, O what is this Mysterious and uncapturable bliss That I have never known, yet seems to be Simple as breath, and easy as a smile, And older than the earth? Now but a little while This ultimate ecstasy Has parted from its birth, Now but a little while been wholly mine, Yet am I utterly possessed By the delicious tyrant and divine Child, this importunate guest. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE CHOIRMASTER'S BURIAL by THOMAS HARDY THE SLEEPER by EDGAR ALLAN POE THE EBB AND FLOW by EDWARD TAYLOR SHIRK OR WORK? by GRACE BORDELON AGATE THE ART OF PRESERVING HEALTH: BOOK 4. THE PASSIONS by JOHN ARMSTRONG PEARLS OF THE FAITH: 80, 81. GHAFOOR, MUNTAKIM by EDWIN ARNOLD |