YES, I know what you say: Since it cannot be soul to soul, Be it flesh to flesh, as it may; But is Earth the whole? Shall a man betray the Past For all Earth gives? "But the Past is dead?" At last, It is all that lives. Which were the nobler goal, -- To snatch at the moment's bliss, Or to swear I will keep my soul Clean for her kiss? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...VARIATIONS: 10 by CONRAD AIKEN LOVE IN TWILIGHT by STEPHEN VINCENT BENET CONTRA MORTEM: THE SUMMER by HAYDEN CARRUTH LOVE'S TENDRILS by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON SURFACES AND MASKS; 1 by CLARENCE MAJOR CITIES OF THE PLAIN by EDGAR LEE MASTERS TO A MAN WORKING HIS WAY THROUGH THE CROWD by MARIANNE MOORE |