T. R. Smith, comp. Poetica Erotica: Rare and Curious Amatory Verse. 1921–22.
The Bed of Love
By James F. Morton, Jr.(U.S. 1905) GARDEN of bliss, where fairest flowers are culled; | |
| Rich mine of treasures, wanting no bright gem; | |
| Serpentless Eden of a blesséd pair; | |
| Best jewel in a life’s bright diadem. | |
| Hence with the thought of shame to him who deems | 5 |
| Foul evil of the joys he may not share! | |
| There is no stain in love; the only sin | |
| Is his who scorns the garb of love to wear. | |
| Sweet home of passion, nest of mated hearts | |
| Quick throbbing each to each in wild desire; | 10 |
| Till swift, resistless, through each pulse and vein | |
| Leaps quivering forth love’s own magnetic fire. | |
| O wretched, empty lives, that never knew | |
| The thrill of love’s ecstatic, fierce embrace! | |
| When, lips to lips tight pressed, heart beats to heart, | 15 |
| With hot, sharp breaths; and love-fired limbs enlace. | |
| Thy sweet will, love, be done! From that blest couch | |
| Fond lovers may not rise unsatisfied; | |
| Denied the crowning act of perfect bliss, | |
| When being into being seems to glide. | 20 |
| Rest, loving hearts, in blissful lassitude, | |
| Still tightly clasped in soft, encircling arms. | |
| Sleep, sweetly sleep, to wake and taste again | |
| The maddening richness of each other’s charms. | |
| Love’s hour is brief, but crowned with wealth beyond | 25 |
| The brightest splendors of the loveless years. | |
| The thrones of monarchs and the seats of gods | |
| Shrink all to naught in love’s bright smiles or tears. | |
| Best home of love! To many an amorous fray | |
| We vow thy snowy sheets to dedicate; | 30 |
| That bards to come, in oft-repeated strains, | |
| Thy perfect hours may long commemorate. | |