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Love and Sleep

By Algernon Charles Swinburne

Topics: classic

Lying asleep between the strokes of night     I saw my love lean over my sad bed,     Pale as the duskiest lilys leaf or head,     Smooth-skinned and dark, with bare throat made to bite,     Too wan for blushing and too warm for white,     But perfect-coloured without white or red.     And her lips opened amorously, and said     I wist not what, saving one word Delight.     And all her face was honey to my mouth,     And all her body pasture to mine eyes;     The long lithe arms and hotter hands than fire,     The quivering flanks, hair smelling of the south,     The bright light feet, the splendid supple thighs     And glittering eyelids of my souls desire.

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"Lying asleep between the strokes of night..."

"Love and Sleep" is a quintessential example of Algernon Charles Swinburne's signature style... ### Why We Love This Line At Linespedia, we believe that poetry is the ultimate sanctuary for the soul...

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Author:Algernon Charles Swinburne

"Lying asleep between the strokes of night..." by Algernon Charles Swinburne

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Algernon Charles Swinburne

About Algernon Charles Swinburne

Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837–1909) was an English poet known for metrical innovation and bold themes. His "Atalanta in Calydon" and "Poems and Ballads" challenged Victorian conventions with their musical intensity and controversial subject matter.

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