Betwixt Two Seas Poems and Ballads (Written at Constantinople and Therapia). By Violet Fane [i.e. M. M. Lamb] |
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A PICTURE
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 | Betwixt Two Seas |  |
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A PICTURE
(En Grisaille)
Beside a trickling stream that sheds
Its waters at the ocean's brim,
And where a mighty plane-tree spreads
As grey and gaunt of garb and limb,
Its waters at the ocean's brim,
And where a mighty plane-tree spreads
As grey and gaunt of garb and limb,
She crouches on the grey sea-wall,
A grey old woman, clad in grey;
From morning-rise to even-fall
She stirreth not the live-long day;
A grey old woman, clad in grey;
From morning-rise to even-fall
She stirreth not the live-long day;
A sad, half-shrouded falcon-face,
Swathed in the head-gear of her kind,
Whereon the passer's eye may trace
The symbols of a shrouded mind;
Swathed in the head-gear of her kind,
Whereon the passer's eye may trace
The symbols of a shrouded mind;
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And just above the waterfall,
Only a span below her feet,
A grey tomb, fashioned in the wall,
Reveals some Imām's last retreat.
Only a span below her feet,
A grey tomb, fashioned in the wall,
Reveals some Imām's last retreat.
Thus sits she on, “year out, year in,”
Her hands clasped idly round her knee;
She toils not, neither doth she spin,
But stares at all her eyes can see,—
Her hands clasped idly round her knee;
She toils not, neither doth she spin,
But stares at all her eyes can see,—
The restless waves, the changing sky,
The glow of sunset on the shore,
The sights that, as the years went by,
Her eyes had seen so oft before,
The glow of sunset on the shore,
The sights that, as the years went by,
Her eyes had seen so oft before,
Whilst all so mute her air and mien,
So fix'd her gaze that seeks the sea,
You well might fancy she had been
But one with tombstone, wall, and tree.
So fix'd her gaze that seeks the sea,
You well might fancy she had been
But one with tombstone, wall, and tree.
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If without stress of strife or thought,
Merely thro' Nature's potent spell,
Wisdom can be thus cheaply bought,
She should have learnt Life's lessons well,
Merely thro' Nature's potent spell,
Wisdom can be thus cheaply bought,
She should have learnt Life's lessons well,
And with no knowledge of the lore
That came, betimes, to you and me,
Her simple mind must surely store
Rare secrets glean'd from sky and sea!
That came, betimes, to you and me,
Her simple mind must surely store
Rare secrets glean'd from sky and sea!
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