In a flowered dell the Lady Venus stood,
Amazed with sorrow. Down the morning one
Far golden horn in
the gold of trees and sun
Rang out; and held; and died. . . . She thought the wood
Grew quieter. Wing,
and leaf, and pool of light
Forgot to dance. Dumb lay the unfalling stream;
Life one eternal instant rose in
dream
Clear out of time, poised on a golden height. . . .
Till a swift terror broke the abrupt hour.
The gold waves purled amidst the green above her;
And a bird
sang. With one sharp-taken breath,
By sunlit branches and unshaken flower,
The immortal limbs flashed
to the human lover,
And the immortal eyes to look on death.