~Auroras~

But oh, the night! oh bitter-sweet! oh, sweet!
O dark, O moon and stars, O ecstasy
Of darkness! O great mystery of love, — 
In which absorbed, loss, anguish, treason's self
Enlarges rapture, — as a pebble dropt
In some full wine-cup, over-brims the wine! 
While we two sate together, leaned that night
So close, my very garments crept and thrilled
With strange electric life; and both my cheeks
Grew red, then pale, with touches from my hair
In which his breath was; while the golden moon
Was hung before our faces as the badge
Of some sublime despair, 
Since ever to be seen by only one, — 
A voice said, low and rapid as a sigh, 
Yet breaking, I felt conscious, from a smile, — 
"Thank God, who made me blind, to make me see! 
Shine on, Aurora, dearest light of souls, 
Which rul'st for evermore both day and night! 
I am happy." [9: ll.814-833]


Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poem Aurora Leigh