Poem by Henry Timrod

Love's Logic

And if I ask thee for a kiss,
 I ask no more than this sweet breeze,
With far less title to the bliss,
 Steals every minute at his ease.
And yet how placid is thy brow!
 It seems to woo the bold caress,
While now he takes his kiss, and now
 All sorts of freedoms with thy dress.

Or if I dare thy hand to touch,
 Hath nothing pressed its palm before?
A flower, I'm sure, hath done as much,
 And ah! some senseless diamond more.
It strikes me, love, the very rings,
 Now sparkling on that hand of thine,
Could tell some truly startling things,
 If they had tongues or touch like mine.

Indeed, indeed, I do not know
 Of all that thou hast power to grant,
A boon for which I could not show
 Some pretty precedent extant.
Suppose, for instance, I should clasp
 Thus,—so,—and thus!—thy slender waist—
I would not hold within my grasp
 More than this loosened zone embraced.

Oh! put the anger from thine eyes,
 Or shut them if they still must frown;
Those lids, despite yon garish skies,
 Can bring a timely darkness down.
Then, if in that convenient night,
 My lips should press thy dewy mouth,
The touch shall be so soft, so light,
 Thou 'lt fancy me—this gentle South.

1. On Pressing Some Flowers
2. Hymn Sung at the Consecration of Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, S.C.
3. A Common Thought
4. The Two Armies
5. Sonnets. 14. Are These Wild Thoughts, Thus Fettered in My Rhymes

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