"The way that lovers use is this"

The way that lovers use is this;
They bow, catch hands, with never a word,
And their lips meet, and they do kiss,
—So I have heard.

They queerly find some healing so,
And strange attainment in the touch;
There is a secret lovers know,
—I have read as much.

And theirs no longer joy nor smart,
Changing or ending, night or day;
But mouth to mouth, and heart on heart,
—So lovers say.

"The Way That Lovers Use" by Rupert Brooke

Three nudes and a reclining man, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, 1934