 | Poems Real and Ideal |  |
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THE KING.
The king had but to stretch his hand forth and they brought him
Fair women. All the queens of all the far lands sought him.
He sent through land and sea
For dark-eyed dark-haired brides to add to his harem's treasures:
Just as he sank on cushions, sank he amid pleasures:
Life seemed for him just one long blossoming tree.
Fair women. All the queens of all the far lands sought him.
He sent through land and sea
For dark-eyed dark-haired brides to add to his harem's treasures:
Just as he sank on cushions, sank he amid pleasures:
Life seemed for him just one long blossoming tree.
Loves came from North and South; from Eastern and Western cities:
At night the feast was spread, and amorous hymns and ditties
Rose up to the moonlit air.
Then the still dark was lit by white arms and embraces,
And the rich blossoms' scent crept round about close faces,—
And each night some unkissed new mouth was there.
At night the feast was spread, and amorous hymns and ditties
Rose up to the moonlit air.
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And the rich blossoms' scent crept round about close faces,—
And each night some unkissed new mouth was there.
If in the streets he saw some maiden or some married
Dark eyes desirable, his strong men straightway carried
The woman to the high
White palace-walls: and there on silken cushions seated,
Soft curtains hanging around, blue, gold, and crimson-pleated,
She waited, the king's august couch anigh.
Dark eyes desirable, his strong men straightway carried
The woman to the high
White palace-walls: and there on silken cushions seated,
Soft curtains hanging around, blue, gold, and crimson-pleated,
She waited, the king's august couch anigh.
But one day, found in some far-off dim wind-swept island
Where the wan mist-wreaths dwell and crown each granite highland,
A grey-eyed maid was brought
Captive to the great king; and she the night he sought her
By her own dagger fled, the intrepid Northland's daughter,
And passed beyond the reach of hand or thought.
Where the wan mist-wreaths dwell and crown each granite highland,
A grey-eyed maid was brought
Captive to the great king; and she the night he sought her
By her own dagger fled, the intrepid Northland's daughter,
And passed beyond the reach of hand or thought.
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And ever till he died the great king pined and maddened,
And 'mid the cushions bright his tarnished sick soul saddened:
For, though he had all things
And all the women of all the land at his disposal,
Yet just the one he sought had shirked her royal espousal
And in the desert spread a sea-bird's wings.
And 'mid the cushions bright his tarnished sick soul saddened:
For, though he had all things
And all the women of all the land at his disposal,
Yet just the one he sought had shirked her royal espousal
And in the desert spread a sea-bird's wings.
This glimpse was all he had of woman's soul. Thereafter
Through every embrace he heard the Western girl's clear laughter
As out the dagger flew:—
And when the lips of slaves upon his lips were lavish
He longed for that one mouth no king or God could ravish
And yearned for those unconquered eyes grey-blue.
Through every embrace he heard the Western girl's clear laughter
As out the dagger flew:—
And when the lips of slaves upon his lips were lavish
He longed for that one mouth no king or God could ravish
And yearned for those unconquered eyes grey-blue.
Sept., 1882.
| Poems Real and Ideal | |