Lines
Unfelt unheard, unseen, I've left my little queen, Her languid arms in silver slumber lying: Ah! through their nestling touch, Who---who could tell how much There is for madness---cruel, or complying? Those faery lids how sleek! Those lips how moist!---they speak, In ripest quiet, shadows of sweet sounds: Into my fancy's ear Melting a burden dear, How "Love doth know no fullness, nor no bounds." True!---tender monitors! I bend unto your laws: This sweetest day for dalliance was born! So, without more ado, I'll feel my heaven anew, For all the blushing of the hasty morn.
Lines - meaning Summary
Intimate Reverie of Desire
The speaker addresses a sleeping beloved and dwells on sensual impressions—soft lids, moist lips—and the powerful, ambiguous effect they have: provoking both madness and willing surrender. Imagery and intimate attention convert sensory detail into longing and a claim that love exceeds limits. By the poem's close the speaker accepts desire as a guiding law and resolves to renew his bliss in the present, celebrating dalliance and the immediacy of feeling.
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