<h2><SPAN name="poem66"></SPAN>ALL THAT LOVE ASKS</h2>
<p class="poetry"> “All that I ask,”
says Love, “is just to stand<br/>
And gaze, unchided, deep in thy dear eyes;<br/>
For in their depths lies largest Paradise.<br/>
Yet, if perchance one pressure of thy hand<br/>
Be granted me, then joy I thought complete<br/>
Were still more sweet.</p>
<p class="poetry"> “All that I ask,”
says Love, “all that I ask,<br/>
Is just thy hand-clasp. Could I brush thy
cheek<br/>
As zephyrs brush a rose leaf, words are weak<br/>
To tell the bliss in which my soul would bask.<br/>
There is no language but would desecrate<br/>
A joy so great.</p>
<p class="poetry"> “All that I ask, is just one
tender touch<br/>
Of that soft cheek. Thy pulsing palm in
mine,<br/>
Thy dark eyes lifted in a trust divine,<br/>
And those curled lips that tempt me overmuch<br/>
Turned where I may not seize the supreme bliss<br/>
Of one mad kiss.</p>
<p class="poetry"> “All that I ask,”
says Love, “of life, of death,<br/>
Or of high heaven itself, is just to stand,<br/>
Glance melting into glance, hand twined in hand,<br/>
The while I drink the nectar of thy breath<br/>
In one sweet kiss, but one, of all thy store,<br/>
I ask no more.”</p>
<p class="poetry"> “All that I
ask”—nay, self-deceiving Love,<br/>
Reverse thy phrase, so thus the words may fall,<br/>
In place of “all I ask,” say, “I
ask all,”<br/>
All that pertains to earth or soars above,<br/>
All that thou wert, art, will be, body, soul,<br/>
Love asks the whole,</p>
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