Gwendolyn B. Bennett, "Sonnet 1" (1927)
1
With silver spurs and silken plumes a-blow,
And flashing sword caught fast and buckled back
In a carven sheath of Tamarack.
He came with footsteps beautifully slow,
And spoke in voice meticulously low.
He came and Romance followed in his track. ...
I did not ask his name I thought him Love;
I did not care to see his hidden face.
All life seemed born in my intaken breath;
All thought seemed flown like some forgotten dove.
He bent to kiss and raised his visor's lace ...
All eager-lipped I kissed the mouth of Death.
Published in Caroling Dusk, 1927