Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE MUSMEE, by EDWIN ARNOLD Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: The musmee has brown-velvet eyes Last Line: O medeto gozarimas! Subject(s): Japan; Travel; Japanese; Journeys; Trips | ||||||||
THE Musmee has brown velvet eyes Curtain'd with satin, sleepily; You wonder if those lids would rise The newest, strangest sight to see; But when she chatters, laughs, or plays Koto, biwa, or samisen, No jewel gleams with brighter rays Than flash from those dark lashes then. The Musmee has a small brown face, "Musk-melon seed" its perfect shape: Jetty arch'd eyebrows; nose to grace The rosy mouth beneath; a nape, And neck, and chin, and smooth, soft cheeks Carv'd out of sun-burn'd ivory, With teeth, which, when she smiles or speaks, Pearl merchants might come leagues to see! The Musmee's hair could teach the night How to grow dark, the raven's wing How to seem ebon! Grand the sight When, in rich masses, towering, She builds each high black-marble coil, And binds the gold and scarlet in; And thrusts, triumphant, through the toil The Kanzashi, her jewell'd pin. The Musmee has wee, faultless feet, With snow-white tabi trimly deck'd, Which patter down the city street In short steps, slow and circumspect; A velvet string between her toes Holds to its place th' unwilling shoe: Pretty and pigeon-like she goes, And on her head a hood of blue. The Musmee wears a wondrous dress -- Kimono, obi, imoji -- A rose-bush in Spring loveliness Is not more color-glad to see! Her girdle holds her silver pipe, And heavy swing her long silk sleeves With cakes, love-letters, mikan ripe, Small change, musk-bag, and writing-leaves. The Musmee's heart is slow to grief, And quick to pleasure, dance, and song; The Musmee's pocket-handkerchief A square of paper! All day long Gentle, and sweet, and debonair Is, rich or poor, this Asian lass: Heaven have her in its tender care, O medeto gozarimas! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...RICHARD, WHAT'S THAT NOISE? by RICHARD HOWARD LOOKING FOR THE GULF MOTEL by RICHARD BLANCO RIVERS INTO SEAS by LYNDA HULL DESTINATIONS by JOSEPHINE JACOBSEN THE ONE WHO WAS DIFFERENT by RANDALL JARRELL THE CONFESSION OF ST. JIM-RALPH by DENIS JOHNSON SESTINA: TRAVEL NOTES by WELDON KEES TO H. B. (WITH A BOOK OF VERSE) by MAURICE BARING |
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