Chansonette

Clark Ashton Smith

(From Christophe des Laurières)

Little of worth my heart has found
Beyond thine arms' enchanted bound:
Between the feet and hair of thee
Lie all the shores of Faery,
And he that wanders there has won
To the island-vales of Avalon.

My kisses' road from knees to mouth
Is all I know of north and south,
Thy rounding bosom endlessly
Shall still my sought horizon be,
My bravest dream a bird that flies
In the warm heaven of thine eyes.

A subtle perfume flows from thee
Like summer borne from Araby.
O realm of all delight, where love
Is fain to dwell, is fain to rove!
The fairest Islands of the Blest
Are those that rise upon thy breast.

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