 | Wild honey from various thyme |  |
89
V
THE BEAUTY OF GRATITUDE
“How shall my heart be lightened?” Menna, knowing,
Answers, “O king, thy sick heart to refresh,
To twenty maidens I will give a mesh
Of net for raiment, and will set them rowing
Adown the grassy waters of this cool,
Bird-fluttered inlet.” So it comes to pass,
As the king gazes idle from the grass
To the plashing oars and dazzle of the pool,
Voluptuous gladness fills him unawares.
Fair are the virgins: yet a fairer sight
Than those fair limbs, fair breasts, fair shading hair
Is Nebta's face when her new malachite
Drops in the stream and at the king's command
The chief magician lays it in her hand.
| Wild honey from various thyme | |