Her hair was crocus yellow

Her hair was crocus yellow,
Her eyes were crocus blue,
Her body was the only gate
Of paradise I knew.

Her hands were velvet raptures,
Her mouth a velvet bliss;
Not Lilith in the garden had
So wonderful a kiss.

To know her was to banish
Reason for once and all.
Her voice was like a silver door
Set in a scarlet wall.

For when she said, "I love you,"
It was as when the tide
Yearns for the naked moonlight,
An unreluctant bride.

And when she said, "Ah, leave me,"
It was as when the sea
Sighs at the ebb, or a spent wind
Dies in the aspen tree.