Explore "Snow and Fire" by Madison Cawein on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
Deep-hearted roses of the purple dusk / And lilies of the morn; / And cactus, holding up a slender tusk / Of fragrance on a thorn; / All heavy flowers, sultry with their musk, / Her presence puts to scorn.
For she is like the pale, pale snowdrop there, / Scentless and chaste of heart; / The moonflower, making spiritual the air, / Like some pure work of art; / Divine and holy, exquisitely fair, / And virtue's counterpart.
Yet when her eyes gaze into mine, and when / Her lips to mine are pressed, -- / Why are my veins all fire then? and then / Why should her soul suggest / Voluptuous perfumes, maddening unto men, / And prurient with unrest?