Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.

By Martha GilbertDickinson

1569 Her Music

IT trembled off the keys,—a parting kiss

So sweet,—the angel slept upon his sword

As through the gate of Paradise we swept,—

Partakers of creation’s primal bliss!

—The air was heavy with the breath

Of violets and love till death.—

Forgetful of eternal banishment—

Deep down the dusk of passion-haunted ways,

Lost in the dreaming alchemies of tone,—

Drenched in the dew no other wings frequent,

—Our thirsting hearts drank in the breath

Of violets and love in death.—

There was no world, no flesh, no boundary line,—

Spirit to spirit,—chord and dissonance,

Beyond the jealousy of space or time

Her life in one low cry broke over mine!

—The waking angel drew a shuddering breath

Of violets and love and death.