  I KNOW not wherein lay the charm She had in those remembered days. The Olympian gait, the welcoming hand, The frank soul looking from her face, The manly manners all her own— Nor yet coquette, nor cold, nor free: She puzzled, being each in turn; Or dazzled, mingling all the three. Out of those gowns, so quaintly rich— They grew, unshaped by Milan’s shears!— Rose, like a tower, the ivory throat Ringed with the rings the Clytie wears. But, when you sought the Roman face That on such columns grew—and grows! You found this wonder in its stead— The sea-shell’s curves, the sea-shell’s rose! Her eyes, the succory’s way-side blue; Her lips, the wilding way-side rose: But, Beauty dreamed a prouder dream, Throned on her forehead’s moonlit snows. And, over all, the wreathÉd hair That caught the sunset’s streaming gold, Where, now, a crocus bud was set, Or violet, hid in the braided fold! But, she, so deep her conscious pride, So sure her knowledge she was fair— What gowns she wore, or silk, or serge, She seemed to neither know, nor care. She smiled on cat, or frowned on friend, Or gave her horse the hand denied. To-day, bewitched you with her wit, To-morrow, snubbed you from her side. Loyal to truth, yet wed to whim, She held in fee her constant mind. Whatever tempests drove her bark, You felt her soul’s deep anchor bind. In that dark day when, fever-driven, Her wits went wandering up and down, And seeming-cruel, friendly shears Closed on her girl-head’s glorious crown, Another woman might have wept To see such gold so idly spilled. She only smiled, as curl and coil Fell, till the shearer’s lap was filled; Then softly said: “Hair-sunsets fade As when night clips day’s locks of gold! Dear Death, thy priestly hands I bless, And, nun-like, seek thy convent-fold!” Then slept, nor woke. O miser Death, What gold thou hidest in thy dust! What ripest beauty there decays, What sharpest wits there go to rust! Hide not this jewel with the rest— Base gems whose color fled thy breath— But, worn on thine imperial hand, Make all the world in love with Death! |
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