Page:Sibylline Leaves (Coleridge).djvu/161

 Like eyes suffused with rapture. Life was in us: We were all life, each atom of our frames A living soul—I vow'd to die for her: With the faint voice of one who, having spoken, Relapses into blessedness, I vow'd it: That solemn vow, a whisper scarcely heard, A murmur breathed against a lady's ear. Oh! there is joy above the name of pleasure, Deep self-possession, an intense repose.

No other than as eastern sages paint, The God, who floats upon a Lotos leaf, Dreams for a thousand ages; then awaking, Creates a world, and smiling at the bubble, Relapses into bliss.

Ah! was that bliss Fear'd as an alien, and too vast for man? For suddenly, impatient of its silence. Did Oropeza, starting, grasp my forehead. I caught her arras; the veins were swelling on them. Thro' the dark bower she sent a hollow voice, Oh! what if all betray me? what if thou?