2l6

DON JUAN.

Canto ll

CLXXXVI.

A long, long kiss, a kiss of youthj and lov<£And beauty, all concentrating like raysInto one focus, kindled from above;

Such kisses as belong to early days,

Where heart, and sou], and sense, in concert move,'And the blood’s lava, an the pulse a blaze,Each kiss a lieart-quake,— for a kiss’s strength)I think, it must be reckon’d by its length,

CLXXXV’H.'

By length I mean duration; theirs enduredHeaven knows how long — no doubt they never

reckon’d;

And if they had, they could not have securedThe sum of their sensations to a second:

They had not spoken; but they felt .allured,

As if their souls and lips each other beckon’d,'Which, being join’d, like swarming bees they clung-Their hearts the llowers from whence the honey

sprung.