 | The music-lesson of Confucius, And Other Poems |  |
104
A SPARK IN THE ASHES.
I WENT to a gay reception
Last winter in the West,
As the beau of the belle of the season,
Quite out of the season dressed.
Last winter in the West,
As the beau of the belle of the season,
Quite out of the season dressed.
For they told her no queen in story
Had a bust so blanche and fair;
And, like Samson, her strength and glory
Was all in her wondrous hair.
Had a bust so blanche and fair;
And, like Samson, her strength and glory
Was all in her wondrous hair.
But I did not think of her tresses,
For directly vis-à-vis,
A dame in the simplest of dresses
Was flashing her eyes at me.
For directly vis-à-vis,
A dame in the simplest of dresses
Was flashing her eyes at me.
Eternal eyes of wonder!
How gloriously they rolled,
Like two black storm-lakes under
An autumn forest of gold.
How gloriously they rolled,
Like two black storm-lakes under
An autumn forest of gold.
For as Lilith's in her splendour
Like an aureole gleamed her head,
And a magic, strange yet tender,
Seemed winding in every thread.
Like an aureole gleamed her head,
And a magic, strange yet tender,
Seemed winding in every thread.
Wavy and dreamy in motion
I felt the old memory flow:—
We had met by the sun-gold ocean
A thousand years ago!
I felt the old memory flow:—
We had met by the sun-gold ocean
A thousand years ago!
105
And the beaux and the belles with their graces,
Where were they on the ancient shore?
Oh, the sea had blown froth in our faces
A thousand years before.
Where were they on the ancient shore?
Oh, the sea had blown froth in our faces
A thousand years before.
Sea-foam and weed and clam-shells
Which slid in the waves' long rolls!
Gay gentlemen—beautiful damsels!
Why, how did you come by those souls?
Which slid in the waves' long rolls!
Gay gentlemen—beautiful damsels!
Why, how did you come by those souls?
| The music-lesson of Confucius, And Other Poems | |