lithe

He turned up his eyes;

I asked a lithe lady to lie her down

Holy and meek, she cries.

In Libyan dell the light gazelle,

The leopard lithe in Indian glade,

And dolphin, brightening tropic seas,

Or when grapes are green in the cluster,

Or, at least, when lithe swallows muster

For their far off flying

And loved her shape, and kiss’d her feet,

Shown to their insteps proud and lithe,

She approach’d, all mildness and young trust,

Lo! it is done. Above the long lithe throat

The mouth's mould testifies of voice and kiss,

For their strength's behests.

Their arms are lithe as a seasoned thong

In games or tests

All things were glad and free;

Lithe squirrels darted here and there,

And wild birds filled the echoing air

Of warm Arcadia where the corn is gold

And the slight lithe-limbed reapers dance about the wattled fold.