Let the silken ladder down,

Swiftly to the garden glide

Glimmering in your long white gown,

[Pg 14]

Rosy from your pillow, sweet,

Come, unsandalled and divine;

Let the blossoms stain your feet

And the stars behold them shine.

IV

Swift, our pawing palfreys wait,

And the page—Dan Cupid—frets,

Holding at the garden gate

Reins that chime like castanets,

Bits a-foam with fairy flakes

Flung from seas whence Venus rose:

Come, for Father Time awakes

And the star of morning glows.

V

Swift—one satin foot shall sway

Half a heart-beat in my hand,

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