The Dream

Aphra Behn 1640 – 1689



All trembling in my arms Aminta lay,
Defending of the bliss I strove to take;
Raising my rapture by her kind delay,
Her force so charming was and weak.
The soft resistance did betray the grant,
While I pressed on the heaven of my desires;
Her rising breasts with nimbler motions pant;
Her dying eyes assume new fires.
Now to the height of languishment she grows,
And still her looks new charms put on;
– Now the last mystery of Love she knows,
We sigh, and kiss: I waked, and all was done.

`Twas but a dream, yet by my heart I knew,
Which still was panting, part of it was true:
Oh how I strove the rest to have believed;
Ashamed and angry to be undeceived!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 19, 2023

38 sec read
206

Quick analysis:

Scheme AXAXBCBCDXDX EEXB
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 652
Words 129
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 12, 4

Aphra Behn

Aphra Behn was a prolific dramatist of the English Restoration, the first English professional female literary writer. more…

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