Sacha Hayes O'Grady

As a solitary rose suspended
On the curtain of night, she shines, lit
By the impassioned flames of her keen heart,
With luxurient wings vibrating;
What strange murmur, burning to the mind,
Her radiance speaks an ineffable tale.
With gently luminous frame, waking limbs
Naked unto heaven; dark hair swaying
Through the tender dreams of night; her wild eyes
Dissolved of their bright vision, casting magic
To woo the earth from her moonlit chasm.

For as an orphan, this shape of woman,
In her fancy, and in her lulling air,
Like a form of light fell upon the earth,
As a child dancing, when sad hours bare
Themselves their painful shadows. Thus had come
The moment of Selene's immortal dream,
Like a wandering cloud scarcely numb
To the wind it felt, nor to the vast theme
Of her gentle mind, which seeks to caress
In those eyes dim, a universe of care,
Moon, sea and sky, see beauty undress.