University of Virginia Library

XXXIV THE MARRIAGE OF THE PALMS

Up the rough palm with monkey-toes
And monkey-hands Shêkh Ali goes,
There, girthed with rope, and slung at ease,
He makes the marriage of the trees;
Forth from his bosom see he takes
The magic spathe, and gently breaks,
Then strips the shining ivory bare,
And shakes his beaded wand in air:
Oh! ne'er in August's sunny hours
Came sweeter scent from lime-tree flowers,
Nor at the hives, when clover blooms,
Was air more charged with sweet perfumes,
Than from those tall palm-heads were borne,
When Ali made their marriage morn.
There is no sound of marriage-bell,
The wedding of the trees to tell,
But even the blind old man can say
From fragrance showered upon his way,
That, by the golden dust from heaven,
New hope of fruit for earth is given.
About the palms the children run
Naked and laughing in the sun,
Already in their hearts they feel
Date-harvest here, and fuller meal.
Down Ali comes, his face all smile,
No happier man beside the Nile,
For now, says he, the trees are wed,
And all the village shall be fed.