Classic Poem

Take away your soft hair and your softer lips,
Loose me from your twining fingers; turn away your eyes.
For I loved this earth, and now a greater passion slips
All its earthly ties.

I can wait for heaven, if that is to be;
Let me have these common days and know their simple worth.
Do not make the quiet-colored moments dull to me —
Let me keep the earth.

There is much I long to look at, much I long to taste.
You have mocked a thousand raptures with contemptuous power.
Do not let your beauty lay all other beauty waste;
Spare a casual hour.

Let old music thrill me to my finger tips;
Bring me back the glamour of the things I used to prize;
Lift this cloudy radiance where I only see your lips —
Turn away your eyes!