From the depths of the green garden-closes 
Where the summer in darkness dozes 
Till autumn pluck from his hand 
An hour-glass that holds not a sand; 
From the maze that a flower-belt encloses 
To the stones and sea-grass on the strand 
How red was the reign of the roses 
Over the rose-crowned land! 

The year of the rose is brief; 
From the first blade blown to the sheaf,
From the thin green leaf to the gold, 
It has time to be sweet and grow old, 
To triumph and leave not a leaf 
For witness in winter's sight 
How lovers once in the light 
Would mix their breath with its breath, 
And its spirit was quenched not of night, 
As love is subdued not of death. 

In the red-rose land not a mile
Of the meadows from stile to stile, 
Of the valleys from stream to stream, 
But the air was a long sweet dream 
And the earth was a sweet wide smile 
Red-mouthed of a goddess, returned 
From the sea which had borne her and burned, 
That with one swift smile of her mouth 
Looked full on the north as it yearned, 
And the north was more than the south. 

For the north, when winter was long, 
In his heart had made him a song, 
And clothed it with wings of desire, 
And shod it with shoon as of fire, 
To carry the tale of his wrong 
To the south-west wind by the sea, 
That none might bear it but he 
To the ear of the goddess unknown 
Who waits till her time shall be
To take the world for a throne. 

In the earth beneath, and above 
In the heaven where her name is love, 
She warms with light from her eyes 
The seasons of life as they rise, 
And her eyes are as eyes of a dove, 
But the wings that lift her and bear 
As an eagle's, and all her hair 
As fire by the wind's breath curled, 
And her passage is song through the air,
And her presence is spring through the world. 

So turned she northward and came, 
And the white-thorn land was aflame 
With the fires that were shed from her feet, 
That the north, by her love made sweet, 
Should be called by a rose-red name;
And a murmur was heard as of doves, 
And a music beginning of loves 
In the light that the roses made, 
Such light as the music loves, 
The music of man with maid. 

But the days drop one upon one, 
And a chill soft wind is begun
In the heart of the rose-red maze 
That weeps for the roseleaf days 
And the reign of the rose undone 
That ruled so long in the light, 
And by spirit, and not by sight, 
Through the darkness thrilled with its breath, 
Still ruled in the viewless night, 
As love might rule over death. 

The time of lovers is brief; 
From the fair first joy to the grief 
That tells when love is grown old,
From the warm wild kiss to the cold, 
From the red to the white-rose leaf, 
They have but a season to seem 
As rose-leaves lost on a stream 
That part not and pass not apart 
As a spirit from dream to dream, 
As a sorrow from heart to heart. 

From the bloom and the gloom that encloses 
The death-bed of Love where he dozes 
Till a relic be left not of sand 
To the hour-glass that breaks in his hand; 
From the change in the grey garden-closes 
To the last stray grass of the strand, 
A rain and ruin of roses 
Over the red-rose land. 

~Charles Algernon Swinburne~

Roses...the scent of roses...envelopes you in sweet affixation as the night wraps you in its tender embrace. You lift your face to their soft caress. Around and around your mind twirls...the stars a blur...the garden a soft essence...the gazebo the only solid thing in this dream. Somewhere...music plays. It rings in your ears...echoes in your soul. A soft touch on your shoulder....warm breath kisses your cheek...a low, musical voice whispers in your ear.....

Luis Royo

"As I die, and by dying...live;
so shall you die, and in death...find life."

Night time sharpens...
heightens each sensation...
Darkness stirs ....
and wakes imagination...
Silently the senses...
abandon their defenses....

Slowly, gently...
Night unfurls its splendor...
Grasp it...
Sense it...
tremulous and tender...
Turn your face away...
from the garish light of day...
turn your thoughts away...
from cold, unfeeling light...
and listen to the music of the night...

Close your eyes...
and surrender to your darkest dreams!
Purge your thoughts....
of the life you knew before!
Close your eyes...
let your spirit start to soar!
And you will live...
as you have never lived before.....

Softly, deftly...
My music shall surround you...
Feel it...hear it....
closing in around you....
Open up your mind...
let your fantasies unwind...
in this darkness which you know you cannot fight...
the darkness of the music of the night....

Let your mind...
start a journey through a strange new world!
Leave all thoughts...
of the world you knew before!
Let your soul...
take you where you want to be!
For only then...
can you belong...
to me....

Floating...falling...
sweet intoxication!
Touch me....trust me...
savor each sensation!
Let the dream begin....
let your darker side give in...
to the power of the music that I write....

You ..alone...
can make my song take flight....
Help me...
make the music...
of the night.....

~Charles Hart~

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