The sun\u2019s red pulses beat,
\nFull prodigal of heat,
\nFull lavish of its lustre unrepressed;
\nBut we have drifted far
\nFrom where his kisses are,
\nAnd in this landward-lying shade we let our paddles rest.<\/p>\n
The river, deep and still,
\nThe maple-mantled hill,
\nThe little yellow beach whereon we lie,
\nThe puffs of heated breeze,
\nAll sweetly whisper\u2014These
\nAre days that only come in a Canadian July.<\/p>\n
So, silently we two
\nLounge in our still canoe,
\nNor fate, nor fortune matters to us now:
\nSo long as we alone
\nMay call this dream our own,
\nThe breeze may die, the sail may droop, we care not when or how.<\/p>\n
Against the thwart, near by,
\nInactively you lie,
\nAnd all too near my arm your temple bends.
\nYour indolently crude,
\nAbandoned attitude,
\nIs one of ease and art, in which a perfect languor blends.<\/p>\n
Your costume, loose and light,
\nLeaves unconcealed your might
\nOf muscle, half suspected, half defined;
\nAnd falling well aside,
\nYour vesture opens wide,
\nAbove your splendid sunburnt throat that pulses unconfined.<\/p>\n
With easy unreserve,
\nAcross the gunwale\u2019s curve,
\nYour arm superb is lying, brown and bare;
\nYour hand just touches mine
\nWith import firm and fine,
\n(I kiss the very wind that blows about your tumbled hair).<\/p>\n
Ah! Dear, I am unwise
\nIn echoing your eyes
\nWhene\u2019er they leave their far-off gaze, and turn
\nTo melt and blur my sight;
\nFor every other light
\nIs servile to your cloud-grey eyes, wherein cloud shadows burn.<\/p>\n
But once the silence breaks,
\nBut once your ardour wakes
\nTo words that humanize this lotus-land;
\nSo perfect and complete
\nThose burning words and sweet,
\nSo perfect is the single kiss your lips lay on my hand.<\/p>\n
The paddles lie disused,
\nThe fitful breeze abused,
\nHas dropped to slumber, with no after-blow;
\nAnd hearts will pay the cost,
\nFor you and I have lost
\nMore than the homeward blowing wind that died an hour ago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":251,"menu_order":27,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[48],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-116","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry","chapter-type-numberless"],"part":3,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/flintandfeather\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/flintandfeather\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/flintandfeather\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/flintandfeather\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/251"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/flintandfeather\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":117,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/flintandfeather\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/116\/revisions\/117"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/flintandfeather\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/3"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/flintandfeather\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/116\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/flintandfeather\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/flintandfeather\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=116"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/flintandfeather\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=116"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/flintandfeather\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}