Sonnet 376

I met sweet Sylvia by a laughing stream

One broken fragment of a summer’s day,

She floated to me as a sylph borne dream,

Her raven hair festooned in ribbons gay;

A hint of perfume on the incensed air,

Burnt ardor smoldering in the golden sun

With eyes afire, her simple soul laid bare—

My heart rejoiced in triumph seeming won.

Warm flowered leas soft embered into night,

While sighs of love enraptured in a swoon,

Her naked skin sleek silvered in faint light,

Cascading hair now ripples of the moon;

And flesh unto seared flesh in passion burned:

Of love or lust two hearts lay unconcerned.

Loubert S Suddaby poems