 | Songs for little people |  |
100
IN ARABIA
In a far Arabian glen
Cousin Bob conducted Ben.
How they went from Hampstead Heath
No one knoweth—no one saith.
Then began in field and lane
Strange adventures thick as rain,
For a fountain played in air,
And it had no bottom there.
Flashed along the upright pool
Rainbow lights most beautiful;
Every spray of water sang
Till the glade's seclusion rang
With such music as the stars
Send abroad in lovely bars.
Cousin Bob conducted Ben.
How they went from Hampstead Heath
No one knoweth—no one saith.
Then began in field and lane
Strange adventures thick as rain,
For a fountain played in air,
And it had no bottom there.
Flashed along the upright pool
Rainbow lights most beautiful;
Every spray of water sang
Till the glade's seclusion rang
With such music as the stars
Send abroad in lovely bars.
Next they trod a precious mould,
Where each spear of grass was gold,
And, as far as they could view,
Diamonds served in place of dew.
Crickets, lizards, adders, birds,
Antelopes in antlered herds,
Buffaloes with opal eyes,
Bees, sweet-heavy at the thighs,
Leopards crouching for the spring,
Eagles of the hissing wing,
All, and more than I have told,
Shaped divinely were from gold.
Where each spear of grass was gold,
101
Diamonds served in place of dew.
Crickets, lizards, adders, birds,
Antelopes in antlered herds,
Buffaloes with opal eyes,
Bees, sweet-heavy at the thighs,
Leopards crouching for the spring,
Eagles of the hissing wing,
All, and more than I have told,
Shaped divinely were from gold.
Passing all these marvels by,
Next a forest touched the sky;
Hand-in-hand the children, mute,
Gazed in wonder at the fruit,
For the branches bent with gems
Fit for finest diadems.
Here were topaz-orchards; there
Emeralds hanging in the air,
Rubies as great apples big,
Sapphires larger than a fig:
When the breeze spoke, low and sweet,
Pearls kept pattering round their feet;
Never yet did forest bear
Stones so radiant as grew there.
Next a forest touched the sky;
Hand-in-hand the children, mute,
Gazed in wonder at the fruit,
For the branches bent with gems
Fit for finest diadems.
102
Emeralds hanging in the air,
Rubies as great apples big,
Sapphires larger than a fig:
When the breeze spoke, low and sweet,
Pearls kept pattering round their feet;
Never yet did forest bear
Stones so radiant as grew there.
When they passed the onyx tree,
Chrysolite, chalcedony,
Straight they found beyond the wood
Wonder in another mood.
For, as still as warriors slain,
Thousands slumbered on the plain;
All a deadly silence kept,
Elephants and camels slept,
Not a hound that twitched an ear,
As the children's tread came near;
Negro servants, black as soot,
Never stirred a dusky foot;
All the army tricked for fight
Slumbered deeply as the night,
And the plume upon his cap
Fluttered o'er the general's map.
Chrysolite, chalcedony,
Straight they found beyond the wood
Wonder in another mood.
For, as still as warriors slain,
Thousands slumbered on the plain;
All a deadly silence kept,
Elephants and camels slept,
Not a hound that twitched an ear,
As the children's tread came near;
Negro servants, black as soot,
Never stirred a dusky foot;
All the army tricked for fight
Slumbered deeply as the night,
And the plume upon his cap
Fluttered o'er the general's map.
103
Mute the trumpets wont to blare,
Breaking up the startled air;
Even vultures in the sky
Hung asleep, and could not fly.
Bob began to cry aloud,
Lo, a dropping of the cloud,
And a genie from the mist
Nursing lightning in his fist!
Far and wide rang Bobby's scream—
Breaking up the startled air;
Even vultures in the sky
Hung asleep, and could not fly.
Bob began to cry aloud,
Lo, a dropping of the cloud,
And a genie from the mist
Nursing lightning in his fist!
Far and wide rang Bobby's scream—
Auntie says it was a dream.
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