 | The silver bridge and other poems |  |
23
AN EGYPTIAN LILY.
An arrowy point divides the oozy mould,A slender shaft, an emerald spear in rest;
And soon another crowds the earliest,
Crumpled and crimped with creases manifold,
So closely were its swaddling-garments rolled,—
Even as a baby's cheek, in slumber pressed
Against the pillow of its downy nest,
Is stamped and dimpled by a careless fold.
A faint green bud appears, and, hour by hour,
Greatens and whitens; yet a little while,
And, marvelling, the gazer's eyes behold
The fragrant glory of the perfect flower,
Full of the magic of the mystic Nile,—
A wondrous cream-white trumpet, spiked with gold!
| The silver bridge and other poems | |