 | Rhymes to be traded for bread |  |
MACHINERY.
OH, EGYPT—QUEEN OF EGYPT—
WHEN I WAS KING OF BIRDS
YOU CALLED ME FROM THE TREETOPS
WITH MYSTIC COPTIC WORDS.
YOU WHISTLED AND YOU WHISPERED,
THEN MOCKED ME, FICKLE QUEEN.
YOU SAID TO ALL MY SOUL TALK:
“A BIRD IS A MACHINE.”
YOUR TRIBE WAS OLD IN SCIENCE
YOU SAID TO ME—“YOUR WINGS
ARE BODS AND STRINGS AND HINGES;
THE PLACE IN YOU THAT SINGS
“IS A TINY WILLOW WHISTLE,
QUITE WELL DEVISED, BUT STILL
A SISTRUM MAKES MORE MUSIC:
A FEATHER'S BUT A QUILL;
“A CLAW IS BUT A NEEDLE:
A CRAW, A MILL FOR CORN;
YOUR HEART IS BUT A LITTLE PUMP,
YOUR SOUL WAS NEVER BORN.”
WHEN I WAS KING OF BIRDS
YOU CALLED ME FROM THE TREETOPS
WITH MYSTIC COPTIC WORDS.
YOU WHISTLED AND YOU WHISPERED,
THEN MOCKED ME, FICKLE QUEEN.
YOU SAID TO ALL MY SOUL TALK:
“A BIRD IS A MACHINE.”
YOUR TRIBE WAS OLD IN SCIENCE
YOU SAID TO ME—“YOUR WINGS
ARE BODS AND STRINGS AND HINGES;
THE PLACE IN YOU THAT SINGS
“IS A TINY WILLOW WHISTLE,
QUITE WELL DEVISED, BUT STILL
A SISTRUM MAKES MORE MUSIC:
A FEATHER'S BUT A QUILL;
“A CLAW IS BUT A NEEDLE:
A CRAW, A MILL FOR CORN;
YOUR HEART IS BUT A LITTLE PUMP,
YOUR SOUL WAS NEVER BORN.”
BUT THEN, I SANG SO DESPERATELY. ...
I MADE FAIR EGYPT SIGH:—
“OH DOWNY SOUL IMMORTAL!
OH BIRD THAT CANNOT DIE!”
I MADE FAIR EGYPT SIGH:—
“OH DOWNY SOUL IMMORTAL!
OH BIRD THAT CANNOT DIE!”
| Rhymes to be traded for bread | |