To my wife as she prepares for bed

As I watched you tonight in the darkness
In the warm intimacy of our room,
Once more seduced by the way you undress
And the scent of your feminine perfume,
Performing those essential nightly rites,
Familiar from years of married life,
I thought that alone of the world's delights,
The vision of you, lover and dear wife
Preparing yourself to come to my bed,
Will never fail my senses to inspire;
For only when artifice is removed,
And beauty is unmasked to set afire
The flagging pulse, in that quickening
Of mortal flesh, love finds eternal Spring.