FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   9   10   11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31   32   33  
34   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   >>  
n her gold house the pipe calls querulously, They cloud with thin green silks her body slender, They talk to her and tend her; Come, piteous, gentle love, and set me free!" He ceased -- and, slowly rising o'er the deep, A faint song chimed, grew clearer, till at last A golden horn of light began to creep Where the dumb ripples sweep, Making the sea one splendor where it passed. A golden boat! The bright oars rested soon, And the prow met the sand. The purple veils Misting the cabin fell. Fair as the moon When the morning comes too soon, And all the air is silver in the dales, A gold-robed princess stepped upon the beach. The fisher knelt and kissed her garment's hem, And then her lips, and strove at last for speech. The waters lapped the reach. "Here thy strength breaks, thy might is nought to stem!" He cried at last. Speech shook him like a flame: "Yea, though thou plucked the stars from out the sky, Each lovely one would be a withered shame -- Each thou couldst find or name -- To this fire-hearted beauty!" Wearily The genie heard. A slow smile came like dawn Over his face. "Thy task is done!" he said. A whirlwind roared, smoke shattered, he was gone; And, like a sudden horn, The moon shone clear, no longer smoked and red. They passed into the boat. The gold oars beat Loudly, then fainter, fainter, till at last Only the quiet waters barely moved Along the whispering sand -- till all the vast Expanse of sea began to shake with heat, And morning brought soft airs, by sailors loved. And after?... Well... The shop-bell clangs! Who comes? Quinine -- I pour the little bitter grains Out upon blue, glazed squares of paper. So. And all the dusk I shall sit here alone, With many powers in my hands -- ah, see How the blurred labels run on the old jars! Opium -- and a cruel and sleepy scent, The harsh taste of white poppies; India -- The writhing woods a-crawl with monstrous life, Save where the deodars are set like spears, And a calm pool is mirrored ebony; Opium -- brown and warm and slender-breasted She rises, shaking off the cool black water, And twisting up her hair, that ripples down, A torrent of black water, to
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   9   10   11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31   32   33  
34   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   >>  



Top keywords:

golden

 

passed

 

ripples

 

fainter

 

waters

 

slender

 

morning

 

bitter

 

grains

 

sailors


Quinine

 

clangs

 

sudden

 

smoked

 

longer

 

whirlwind

 

roared

 

shattered

 
glazed
 

whispering


Expanse

 
brought
 

Loudly

 

barely

 

spears

 

mirrored

 

deodars

 

writhing

 

monstrous

 
torrent

twisting
 

breasted

 

shaking

 

poppies

 
powers
 
sleepy
 
labels
 

blurred

 
squares
 

splendor


bright

 

rested

 

Making

 

clearer

 

purple

 

silver

 

princess

 

Misting

 

chimed

 

querulously