Rosa Coeli

Above soul, spirit, heart, thought, being, mind, All—but most irrevocably entwined And irrevocably alone. XVI HERE was a boy with O ! the face of dawn, The mother-of-pearl that shimmered on his skin, The breasts like golden roses circling red, The limbs like limbs of a young fawn For litheness—O ! for innocence of sin His eyes burned wondrous bright, his sun-crowned head Danced with its sweet and sacred hopes, So that he paced the enamelled slopes Laughing upon the laughing lake below, Expectant of some strange experience Worth all the woes of sense, Some drop of nectar worth a world of wine, Some grace of One divine Worth more than all life’s grace, and more than life Intense, Was there a wonder if the silken boy Found her a-playing on the bluebell marge And drank from golden vats the wine of joy ; Hot, eager, overcoming in her breath, As she would draw him to those large And firm white breasts and mix her liquid life With his in pagan strife ? 16 T