To Constantia: Stanzas 1 and 2

As restored by Mr. C.D. Locock.

Cease, cease--for such wild lessons madmen learn Thus to be lost, and thus to sink and die Perchance were death indeed!--Constantia turn In thy dark eyes a power like light doth lie Even though the sounds its voice that were Between lips are laid to sleep: Within thy breath, and on thy hair Like odour, it is yet And from thy touch like fire doth leap-- Even while I write, my burning cheeks are wet-- Alas, that the torn heart can bleed but not forget.

breathless awe like the swift change Of dreams unseen but felt in youthful slumbers Wild sweet yet incommunicably strange Thou breathest now in fast ascending numbers...