Samuel Taylor Coleridge (Сэмюэл Тэйлор Кольридж)
To Sara
One kiss, dear maid! I said and sighed, Your scorn the little boon denied. Ah why refuse the blameless bliss? Can danger lurk within a kiss? Yon viewless wand'rer of the vale, The spirit of the western gale, At morning's break, at evening's close Inhales the sweetness of the rose And hovers o'er th' uninjured bloom Sighing back the soft perfume. Vigor to the zephyr's wing Her nectar-breathing kisses fling; And he the glitter of the dew Scatters on the rose's hue. Bashful, lo! she bends her head, And darts a blush of deeper red! Too well those lovely lips disclose The triumphs of the op'ning rose: O fair! O graceful! bid them prove As passive to the breath of love. In tender accents, faint and low, Well-pleased I hear the whispered 'No!' The whispered 'No' ---- how little meant! Sweet falsehood, that endears consent! For on those lovely lips the while Dawns the soft relenting smile, And tempts with feigned dissuasion coy The gentle violence of joy.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s other poems:
2436
