Love Concealed

Do not deny it — I have known what you conceal;
I see love: its features have spread abroad;
and in the gloom of the bashful dream
you hid it from me, while doubt was in me;
I feel it — do not pretend that it —
You love me... whence, were it not for love,

in the glance of the eye is the ray of certainty;
in the flutter of your lashes and the radiance of your brow;
a care concealed by a composed modesty;
by God, I did not believe what you keep hidden;
it lies still in your breast, a buried secret —
this sweet dew and this tenderness??

Who set the melody fluttering in your ear,
and the star of the darkness in your chamber,
and the locks of perfume upon your bed?

You love me — this is the gloom of love
in your mournful face,
and your suspect silence,
and your sorrowful step.

I feel it in everything you conceal:
in your distracted eyelid,
and your wasted body,
and your sorrowful step.

What is upon your lips? Oh, their sweetness!!
Leave it to me... oh, its sweetness in my mouth;
leave it to me alone, in its purity —

I see upon it the eyes of the thirsty;
rose and jasmine are twined together in it;
I am the blaze, and mankind is water and clay.