Classic Poem

Love, though the whole earth rock
With the shattering roar of the guns' booming,
Though in that horror of din and flame and murder
All men's blood grows faint and their limbs as water,
Though I return once more to the battle,
Though perhaps I be lost to you for ever—
Give me, O love, your love for this last brief season,
Be mine indeed as I am yours.

To-night there shall be no tears, no wearing sorrow,
No drawn-out agony of hope, no cold despairing,
Only we two together in a sudden glory
Of infinite delight and sharp sweet yearning,
Shutting out for a space the world's harsh horror.

Kiss my lips with your mouth that is wet with wine,
Wine that is only less keen than your lips are;
Slip from under your fragile garments as a white rose
Slips from under her leaves to the naked sunlight;
Give to my eyes your straight young body,
The limbs that embrace me, the breasts that caress me,
Whisper to me the sudden words of yearning,
The broken words that speak an infinite yearning
That delight would last for ever, love never be ended. . . .
Give me this and I care not if death come after,
For to-night there shall be no tears, no wearing sorrow,
Only our kisses and whispers and stabbing heart-beats.