Sonnet 376

I met Sylvia by a laughing stream

One broken fragment of a summer’s day,

She floated to me, a sylph born of a dream,

Her raven hair festooned in ribbons gay;

A hint of perfume on the incensed air,

Sweet ardor smoldering in the golden sun

With eyes afire, her simple soul laid bare—

I fair rejoiced in triumph seeming won.

Warm flowered lea soft embered into night,

While sighs of love enraptured in a swoon,

Her naked skin sleek silvered in faint light,

Cascading hair now rivulets of the moon;

And flesh unto seared flesh in passion burned:

Of love or lust two hearts lay unconcerned.

Loubert S Suddaby poems