XXVII.

And so Bianca changed;—­the next sweet even,
  With Julio in a black Venetian bark,
Row’d slow and stealthily—­the hour, eleven,
  Just sounding from the tow’r of old St. Mark;
She sate with eyes turn’d quietly to heav’n,
  Perchance rejoicing in the grateful dark
That veil’d her blushing cheek,—­for Julio brought her
Of course—­to break the ice upon the water.

XXVIII.

But what a puzzle is one’s serious mind
  To open;—­oysters, when the ice is thick,
Are not so difficult and disinclin’d;
  And Julio felt the declaration stick
About his throat in a most awful kind;
  However, he contrived by bits to pick
His trouble forth,—­much like a rotten cork
Grop’d from a long-necked bottle with a fork.

XXIX.

But love is still the quickest of all readers;
  And Julio spent besides those signs profuse
That English telegraphs and foreign pleaders,
  In help of language, are so apt to use,
Arms, shoulders, fingers, all were interceders,
  Nods, shrugs, and bends,—­Bianca could not choose
But soften to his suit with more facility,
He told his story with so much agility.

XXX.

“Be thou my park, and I will be thy dear,
  (So he began at last to speak or quote;)
Be thou my bark, and I thy gondolier,
  (For passion takes this figurative note;)
Be thou my light, and I thy chandelier;
  Be thou my dove, and I will be thy cote: 
My lily be, and I will be thy river;
Be thou my life—­and I will be thy liver.”

XXXI.

This, with more tender logic of the kind,
  He pour’d into her small and shell-like ear,
That timidly against his lips inclin’d;
  Meanwhile her eyes glanced on the silver sphere
That even now began to steal behind
  A dewy vapor, which was lingering near,
Wherein the dull moon crept all dim and pale,
Just like a virgin putting on the veil:—­

XXXII.

Bidding adieu to all her sparks—­the stars,
  That erst had woo’d and worshipp’d in her train,
Saturn and Hesperus, and gallant Mars—­
  Never to flirt with heavenly eyes again. 
Meanwhile, remindful of the convent bars,
  Bianca did not watch these signs in vain,
But turn’d to Julio at the dark eclipse,
With words, like verbal kisses, on her lips.

XXXIII.

He took the hint full speedily, and, back’d
  By love, and night, and the occasion’s meetness,
Bestow’d a something on her cheek that smack’d
  (Tho’ quite in silence) of ambrosial sweetness;
That made her think all other kisses lack’d
  Till then, but what she knew not, of completeness;
Being used but sisterly salutes to feel,
Insipid things—­like sandwiches of veal.