Teresa and Other Poems By James Rhoades |
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THE MUMMY-PEA
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 | Teresa and Other Poems |  |
55
THE MUMMY-PEA
Here blooms in England, and to-day,
Unmarked, a miracle of flowers,
Whose seed far centuries away
Was orbed in other climes than ours:
Unmarked, a miracle of flowers,
Whose seed far centuries away
Was orbed in other climes than ours:
Strange thought! the very parent-stem
That rocked its pendent cradle-pod
Once haply met the gaze of them
That spake with him who spake with God;
That rocked its pendent cradle-pod
Once haply met the gaze of them
That spake with him who spake with God;
Or in some garden of great kings,
Which erst the Sire of nations knew,
Unfurled the selfsame snowy wings
That next were spread for me and you.
Which erst the Sire of nations knew,
Unfurled the selfsame snowy wings
That next were spread for me and you.
When last the parent pea-flower's scent
Did o'er the fields of summer flit,
Pharaoh's dark daughter may have bent
Her stately head to feast on it.
Did o'er the fields of summer flit,
Pharaoh's dark daughter may have bent
Her stately head to feast on it.
Then sudden darkness fell: the seed
Lay coffined with the mighty dead,
While centuries of human deed,
Unheard, were passing overhead.
Lay coffined with the mighty dead,
While centuries of human deed,
Unheard, were passing overhead.
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When next it woke, the earth was old:
Four thousand years had ceased to be,
As from this plot of English mould
It looked and breathed on you and me.
Four thousand years had ceased to be,
As from this plot of English mould
It looked and breathed on you and me.
Hail! fair white flower and fragrant breath,
That, symbols of a hope sublime,
Sprang quickened from the dust of death,
And foiled the flashing scythe of Time!
That, symbols of a hope sublime,
Sprang quickened from the dust of death,
And foiled the flashing scythe of Time!
| Teresa and Other Poems | |