War and Love/Nights of Love

by Richard Aldington

 

NIGHTS OF LOVE

O the nights of love,
The nights of close long kisses,
Of the passionate clasping of two bodies
So delighted with poignant touch;
O the nights of warm adoration,
Of the meeting of breasts and hands,
Of the joining of flesh with flesh;
O the nights when the world was abolished,
When the city outside was forgetten
When the moon seemed not to shine
And nothing endured but our love;
O the nights of peace after love,
Of sleep with her head on my arm,
Of our breathing mingled as one;
O the nights that were day too soon,
When we hated the light of the sun
That severed our amorous flesh;
O the nights when we needed no God,
When we needed no helper, no friend,
When we needed no good upon earth;
O nights I shall never forget,
You will sweeten the harshness of death,
You will thrill the last beat of my heart,
You will sooth my last moan into praise.