Page:Stars of the Desert.djvu/139

"The silver twilight came at length,
I reached the garden cool and sweet,
And all my eager youth and strength
Lay at her small and jewelled feet.

"Three nights we gathered our delight:
I had almost kissed her lips away,
Yet still her eyes, alert and bright,
Resented the invading day.

"Alas, the fourth delirious eve
Ended in terrified surprise:
Her lamp alight she was wont to leave
For love allured her through the eyes.

"This night she cried in passionate pain,
Her heart seemed broken in her breast,
'Thy beauty is too great a strain,
Let us put out the light and rest.'

("Perchance you hold the speech too strong,
Or my recording it, conceit,
Ah, surely one who has lived so long
May own her words were true as sweet.)

"Then I, half rising to obey,
Beheld a strange and terrible sight,
'Take not,' she said, 'thyself away,
For I will quench the offending light.'

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