Description
Amy Levy published this poem as a part of her collection A London Plane-tree and other Verse . The poem celebrates the nights she gets to spend sleeping next to her love, and laments how short the summer nights are for they give her less time with her beloved.
Text
Am I waking, am I sleeping?
As the first faint dawn comes creeping
Thro' the pane, I am aware
Of an unseen presence hovering,
Round, above, in dusky air ;
A downy bird, with an odorous wing,
That fans my forehead, and sheds perfume,
As sweet as love, as soft as death,
Drowsy-slow through the summer-gloom.
My heart in some dream-rapture saith,
It is she. Half in a swoon,
I spread my arms in slow delight.—
O prolong, prolong the night,
For the nights are short in June!
Page numbers in original volume
42
