| Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900. |
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| Robert Browning. 1812–1889 |
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| 723. In a Gondola |
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| THE moth's kiss, first! | |
| Kiss me as if you made me believe | |
| You were not sure, this eve, | |
| How my face, your flower, had pursed | |
| Its petals up; so, here and there | 5 |
| You brush it, till I grow aware | |
| Who wants me, and wide ope I burst. | |
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| The bee's kiss, now! | |
| Kiss me as if you enter'd gay | |
| My heart at some noonday, | 10 |
| A bud that dares not disallow | |
| The claim, so all is render'd up, | |
| And passively its shatter'd cup | |
| Over your head to sleep I bow. | |
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