The Elephant is Slow to Mate - D. H. Lawrence

The elephant, the huge old beast,
      is slow to mate;
he finds a female, they show no haste
      they wait

for the sympathy in their vast shy hearts
      slowly, slowly to rouse
as they loiter along the river-beds
      and drink and browse

and dash in panic through the brake
      of forest with the herd,
and sleep in massive silence, and wake
      together, without a word.

So slowly the great hot elephant hearts
      grow full of desire,
and the great beasts mate in secret at last,
      hiding their fire.

Oldest they are and the wisest of beasts
      so they know at last
how to wait for the loneliest of feasts
      for the full repast.

They do not snatch, they do not tear;
      their massive blood
moves as the moon-tides, near, more near
      till they touch in flood.

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D. H. Lawrence (1885 – 1930) England
Source: Poets.org