Closer, ah! closer, and still more close,
⁠Till thy soul reach my soul—
Further, further, out on the tide
⁠From the shores of self-control.

Glowing, glowing, to whitest heat,
⁠Thy feverish passions burn,
Fiercer and fiercer, cruelly fierce,
⁠To thee my senses yearn.
Fainter and fainter runs my blood
⁠With desperate fight for breath—
This, my Beloved, thou sayest is Love,
⁠Or I should have deemed it Death!