One kiss, dear maid! I said and sighed, <br />Your scorn the little boon denied. <br />Ah why refuse the blameless bliss? <br />Can danger lurk within a kiss? <br /> <br />Yon viewless wand'rer of the vale, <br />The spirit of the western gale, <br />At morning's break, at evening's close <br />Inhales the sweetness of the rose <br />And hovers o'er th' uninjured bloom <br />Sighing back the soft perfume. <br />Vigor to the zephyr's wing <br />Her nectar-breathing kisses fling; <br />And he the glitter of the dew <br />Scatters on the rose's hue. <br />Bashful, lo! she bends her head, <br />And darts a blush of deeper red! <br /> <br />Too well those lovely lips disclose <br />The triumphs of the op'ning rose: <br />O fair! O graceful! bid them prove <br />As passive to the breath of love. <br />In tender accents, faint and low, <br />Well-pleased I hear the whispered 'No!' <br />The whispered 'No' ---- how little meant! <br />Sweet falsehood, that endears consent! <br />For on those lovely lips the while <br />Dawns the soft relenting smile, <br />And tempts with feigned dissuasion coy <br />The gentle violence of joy.<br /><br />Samuel Taylor Coleridge<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/to-sara-2/
