The Perfect Present

Arthur Henry Adams 1872 (Lawrence) – 1936 (Sydney, New South Wales)



SO I have kissed you! And this hour is mine.
 Its light along the level future lasts,
 It crowns a drab eternity of Pasts!
 Here soul and soul have crossed the border-line
 Of self, and merged. No years can e'er untwine
 This hour from us! What though to-morrow casts
 The memory out, and your cold glance contrasts
 With this day's rich red lips, need I repine?  
  No. I have kissed you! And the brief warm flower
 Born of our lips perfumes eternity.
 From the long loneliness that silently
 Stretches behind, before, I am content
 To cull this blossom of one perfect hour—
 To snatch one star from Time's deep firmament!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 23, 2023

34 sec read
50

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBAABBACDDECD
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 632
Words 112
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14

Arthur Henry Adams

Arthur Henry Adams was a journalist and author. He started his career in New Zealand, though he spent most of it in Australia, and for a short time lived in China and London.  more…

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