h page the Master writ she read, close furled
In lotus blooms, or, 'mong the storm-clouds whirled;
Or traced, star-lettered, on the flaming scroll
The night unwinds toward the southern pole.
And sometimes wiling idle days, she wove
In quaint device, gems from her treasure-trove,
Rare garlanded, or set in flashing zone
Soft emerald, sapphire pale, and many a stone
Out-gleaming amethyst. Her yellow hair
Among, the glinting diamonds shone. And there
The sultry topaz burned. And laughing, twined
She round her bare white throat red rubies shrined
In pearls.
Or she among the haunts would rove
That sheltered island birds; or in the grove,
Or 'mong the rocky cliffs, where dainty nests
They fashioned swift. She scaled the seaward crests,
And on the sands piled turtle eggs, when all
About hoarse-shrieked the water-fowl, or call
Of plovers fell among the tangled glens,
Or lonely bitterns' boom came o'er the fens.
So traversed she her realm, when mangoes green
Baobabs by, showed freshest hues; and sheen
Of silver touched acacias slight; and lone
The solitary aloes, dreamed. The moan
Of that far sea against the shore brake soft.
And through that blossom-burdened land as oft
She roamed and far, sweet sped the passing days.
Till one dawned fairest, in whose noon-tide haze
Sweet slumbering she lay; and dreamed-steeped still,
Half conscious, caught the tinkle of a rill
In far-off Paradise. More silver clear
Across her thoughts, as once she loved to hear,
Rippled the waters, low against the stones
Where poised gemmed dragon-flies; and sudden moans
Shook 'mong blue flags. Waked, vague unrest
And tender yearning rose within her breast,
And longing love, that she ne'er more might still.
When late upon her parting day smiled chill,
Pensive she gazed upon the darkling land,
With lingering feet o'er-passed the shining strand,
And silent sat on an o'erhanging ledge,
The sea o'erlooking. Far the horizon's edge
Athwart her gaze a rim of blue hills cleft,
Whereat she sighed. "So rose, ere I them left,
So smiled, the dim hills round my Eden home.
But I--wherefore recall, when far I roam,
Dreams vanished--gone? And now since long time dead
Is that fair past, I fain would lay it low
Where soft about it memories sweet may blow
A