Thomas Humphry Ward, ed. The English Poets. 1880–1918.rnVol. V. Browning to Rupert Brooke
John Addington Symonds (1840–1893)Extracts from Stella Maris: Je suis trop jeune
L
My maiden fancies are enough for me:
Leave me awhile; too soon will passion move
The silent springs of my virginity.
You break my dream, wither my girlhood’s flower,
With vows and kisses and soft whispered sighs;
And offer what? The homage of an hour,
The sad sweet service of adoring eyes.
And then you fly. ’Tis honor bids you go:
You think it virtue to have left me maid;
You smile “Uncropped by me her rose shall blow,
Her bridal kiss on worthier lips be laid.”
But give me, stranger, give me back, I pray,
The heart’s ease that was mine but yesterday!