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 | The complete poetical works of Oliver Wendell Holmes |  |
One savage word!—The menials know its tone,
And slink away; the master stands alone.
“Well played, by ---;” breathe not what were best unheard;
His goblet shivers while he speaks the word,—
“If wine tells truth,—and so have said the wise,—
It makes me laugh to think how brandy lies!
Bankrupt to-morrow,—millionaire to-day,—
The farce is over,—now begins the play!”
And slink away; the master stands alone.
“Well played, by ---;” breathe not what were best unheard;
His goblet shivers while he speaks the word,—
“If wine tells truth,—and so have said the wise,—
It makes me laugh to think how brandy lies!
Bankrupt to-morrow,—millionaire to-day,—
The farce is over,—now begins the play!”
The spring he touches lets a panel glide;
An iron closet lurks beneath the slide,
Bright with such treasures as a search might bring
From the deep pockets of a truant king.
Two diamonds, eyeballs of a god of bronze,
Bought from his faithful priest, a pious bonze,
A string of brilliants; rubies, three or four;
Bags of old coin and bars of virgin ore;
A jewelled poniard and a Turkish knife,
Noiseless and useful if we come to strife.
An iron closet lurks beneath the slide,
Bright with such treasures as a search might bring
From the deep pockets of a truant king.
Two diamonds, eyeballs of a god of bronze,
Bought from his faithful priest, a pious bonze,
310
Bags of old coin and bars of virgin ore;
A jewelled poniard and a Turkish knife,
Noiseless and useful if we come to strife.
Gone! As a pirate flies before the wind,
And not one tear for all he leaves behind!
From all the love his better years have known
Fled like a felon,—ah! but not alone!
The chariot flashes through a lantern's glare,—
Oh the wild eyes! the storm of sable hair!
Still to his side the broken heart will cling,—
The bride of shame, the wife without the ring:
Hark, the deep oath,—the wail of frenzied woe,—
Lost! lost to hope of Heaven and peace below!
And not one tear for all he leaves behind!
From all the love his better years have known
Fled like a felon,—ah! but not alone!
The chariot flashes through a lantern's glare,—
Oh the wild eyes! the storm of sable hair!
Still to his side the broken heart will cling,—
The bride of shame, the wife without the ring:
Hark, the deep oath,—the wail of frenzied woe,—
Lost! lost to hope of Heaven and peace below!
| The complete poetical works of Oliver Wendell Holmes | |