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1828–1882

NUPTIAL SLEEP

Dante Gabriel Rossetti

At length their long kiss severed, with sweet smart: And as the last slow sudden drops are shed From sparkling eaves when all the storm has fled, So singly flagged the pulses of each heart.

Their bosoms sundered, with the opening start Of married flowers to either side outspread From the knit stem; yet still their mouths, burnt red, Fawned on each other where they lay apart.

Sleep sank them lower than the tide of dreams, And their dreams watched them sink, and slid away. Slowly their souls swam up again, through gleams Of watered light and dull drowned waifs of day;

Till from some wonder of new woods and streams He woke, and wondered more: for there she lay.

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NUPTIAL SLEEP · Dante Gabriel Rossetti · Poetry Cove