ening introduces the night,
This thing is broken into a thousand delicacies,
And the warm notes of night
Make happy discord of the day's harsh harmonies.

Of a Night in War-Time

Upon a night I sat behind my shop,
In happy talk with casual company:
The upright Ho Ling, the grave Cheng Huan,
And the round-bodied and amiable Sway Too, of my own country;
Together with the maid of the golden curls,
A sad-eyed seaman from Malay,
And two pale Englishmen, Bill Hawkins and Jack Brown.

We sat beneath the lantern, and drank our tchah in fellowship,
And spoke of this and of that.
And the moon rose and mated with the soft smells of my store,
And brought forth a spirit that spoke to us
Of things forgotten or lost, or long despaired of.

Friendship bound us together, and we sat late,
Glad of the night, and each glad of his companions;
While men in another land
Wrought horrors upon their fellows beneath this moon,
Drunk with the wicked words of the wicked lords of men.

A Love Lesson

Last night I dreamed of the maid with yellow curls.
She came to me in the room above my shop,
And we two were alone, freed from the laws of day.
I held her then to myself.
I took from her her clothing, garment by garment,
And watched them fall about her feet,
White petals of a flower.
And I drew from her to myself her thoughts, one by one,
As often I had wished, till all of her was mine.

Then I was sad, for nothing was left to love.
And I quickly clothed her again, garment by garment,
And gave her back her thoughts, one by one,
And awoke in joy.
I was glad that the dream was a dream,
And that all of her was not mine;
For I had learned
That love released from bond, and unburdened of its fetters,
Is love no longer.

A Rebuke

Excuse me, Mister, if I enter a gentle protest
About the manner in which you comport yourself
When taking the air about the streets.
For, looking at you, one would form the opinion
That you were a man of much worth and nobility,
That you were high in officialdom,
A councillor of the king or a learned judge,
Or one whose piety and wisdom
Had marked him out to sit above his fellow.

One would think thus to see the swinging arms,
The slow protuberant belly sheathed in a vest of scarlet,
And the gold chain of Albert, the great Consort;
To see the haughty head, the portly mien,
The solemn g