The Temple Dancing Girl

A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904)

You will be mine; those lightly dancing feet,

Falling as softly on the careless street

As the wind-loosened petals of a flower,

Will bring you here, at the Appointed Hour.

And all the Temple’s little links and laws

Will not for long protect your loveliness.

I have a stronger force to aid my cause,

Nature’s great Law, to love and to possess!

Throughout those sleepless watches, when I lay

Wakeful, desiring what I might not see,

I knew (it helped those hours, from dusk to day),

In this one thing, Fate would be kind to me.

You will consent, through all my veins like wine

This prescience flows; your lips meet mine above,

Your clear soft eyes look upward into mine

Dim in a silent ecstasy of love.

The clustered softness of your waving hair,

That curious paleness which enchants me so,

And all your delicate strength and youthful air,

Destiny will compel you to bestow!

Refuse, withdraw, and hesitate awhile,

Your young reluctance does but fan the flame;

My partner, Love, waits, with a tender smile,

Who play against him play a losing game.

I, strong in nothing else, have strength in this,

The subtlest, most resistless, force we know

Is aiding me; and you must stoop and kiss:

The genius of the race will have it so!

Yet, make it not too long, nor too intense

My thirst; lest I should break beneath the strain,

And the worn nerves, and over-wearied sense,

Enjoy not what they spent themselves to gain.

Lest, in the hour when you consent to share

That human passion Beauty makes divine,

I, over worn, should find you over fair,

Lest I should die before I make you mine.

You will consent, those slim, reluctant feet,

Falling as lightly on the careless street

As the white petals of a wind-worn flower,

Will bring you here, at the Appointed Hour.

Poetry Monster – Home

A few random poems:

External links

Bat’s Poetry Page – more poetry by Fledermaus

Talking Writing Monster’s Page –

Batty Writing – the bat’s idle chatter, thoughts, ideas and observations, all original, all fresh

Poems in English 

• The Incurious Bencher by William Somervile by William Somerville
• The Hip by William Somervile by William Somerville
• The Happy Lunatic by William Somervile by William Somerville
• The Frog’s Choice by William Somervile by William Somerville
• The Dog and the Bear by William Somervile by William Somerville
• The Devil Outwitted by William Somervile by William Somerville
• The Coquette by William Somervile by William Somerville
• The Captive Trumpeter by William Somervile by William Somerville
• The Busy Indolent by William Somervile by William Somerville
• The Bowling-Green by William Somervile by William Somerville
• The Bald-Pated Welshman and the Fly by William Somervile by William Somerville
• Song by William Somervile by William Somerville
• On Presenting to a Lady a White Rose and a Red on the Tenth of June by William Somervile by William Somerville
• On Miranda’s Leaving the Country by William Somervile by William Somerville
• Mahomet Ali Beg; Or, the Faithful Minister of State by William Somervile by William Somerville
• Liberty, and Love; or, the Two Sparrows by William Somervile by William Somerville
• Hunting Song by William Somervile by William Somerville
• Hudibras and Milton Reconciled by William Somervile by William Somerville
• Hobbinol; or The Rural Games by William Somervile by William Somerville
• Hobbinol; or The Rural Games – Canto 3 by William Somervile by William Somerville

More external links (open in a new tab):

Russian Commerce Agency

Dealing Monster

Doska or the Board – write anything

Search engines:

Yandex – the best search engine for searches in Russian (and the best overall image search engine, in any language, anywhere)

Qwant – the best search engine for searches in French, German as well as Romance and Germanic languages.

Ecosia – a search engine that supposedly… plants trees

Duckduckgo – the real alternative and a search engine that actually works. Without much censorship or partisan politics.

Yahoo– yes, it’s still around, amazingly, miraculously, incredibly, but now it seems to be powered by Bing.

 

Parallel Translations of Poetry

Poems by Author and Category

The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works