Out of the forest, panther, come, <br />Silken, supple, silent, lone– <br />Out of the forest, drooped with night– <br />To your delight. <br />Under bloom and over stone, <br />Out of the forest, panther, come. <br /> <br />Something sees and slips with you, <br />Something huge and gaunt and blue, <br />Lashes its tail and follows you: <br />You, pursued, still pursue…. <br /> <br />Sky with thunder on its rim <br />Closes and closes after you: <br /> <br />Trigger loin, swinging limb, <br />Go and go and go from him! <br /> <br />Brushing haunches, taut with dew, <br />Follow, follow, follow you. <br /> <br />Now the doe with lifted ears <br />Rears in the bramble, looks and hears. <br />Sway a little, creeper, creeper; <br />After you comes, more gaunt than you <br />And lean for prey, and quick, the leaper, <br />–And the little doe will sleep with the sleeper. <br /> <br />Out of the forest, panther, come, <br />Silken, supple, silent, lone, <br />Out of the forest, drooped with night, <br />To your delight: <br />Under bloom, and over stone, <br />Out of the forest, panther, come.<br /><br />Genevieve Taggard<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/epithalamium-5/
