193 Nocturne

UP to her chamber window

A slight wire trellis goes,

And up this Romeo’s ladder

Clambers a bold white rose.

I lounge in the ilex shadows,

I see the lady lean,

Unclasping her silken girdle,

The curtain’s folds between.

She smiles on her white-rose lover,

She reaches out her hand

And helps him in at the window—

I see it where I stand!

To her scarlet lip she holds him,

And kisses him many a time—

Ah, me! it was he that won her

Because he dared to climb!