English Poetry III: From Tennyson to Whitman.
The Harvard Classics. 1909–14. |
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| 629. Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal |
| | | Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892) |
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| NOW sleeps the crimson petal, now the white; | |
| Nor waves the cypress in the palace walk; | |
| Nor winks the gold fin in the porphyry font: | |
| The fire-fly wakens: waken thou with me. | |
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| Now droops the milkwhite peacock like a ghost, | 5 |
| And like a ghost she glimmers on to me. | |
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| Now lies the Earth all Danaë to the stars, | |
| And all thy heart lies open unto me. | |
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| Now slides the silent meteor on, and leaves | |
| A shining furrow, as thy thoughts in me. | 10 |
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| Now folds the lily all her sweetness up, | |
| And slips into the bosom of the lake: | |
| So fold thyself, my dearest, thou, and slip | |
| Into my bosom and be lost in me. | |
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