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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
AN ORIENTAL BALLAD, by BERTON BRALEY Poet's Biography
First Line: Oh, fair is my yashmak, as sweet as a mosque
Last Line: That I can exactly recall!
Subject(s): Asia; Praise; Far East; East Asia; Orient
First Line: Oh, fair is my yashmak, as sweet as a mosque
Last Line: That I can exactly recall!
Subject(s): Asia; Praise; Far East; East Asia; Orient
Oh, fair is my Yashmak, as sweet as a mosque
That's worn by the dreamy vizier,
She dances as light as a dainty kiosk,
Her voice is more dulcet to hear
Than any zenana or dervish or kohl
That sings in the narghileh tree,
While the bulbuls swim round in the odalisque bowl
And the alcoran serves her with tea.
She nibbles sweet fez as she plays her kureel
With a jeweled bismillah of gold,
She smokes her seraglio then for a spell
On a kibouk of curious mold.
Yes, fair is my Yashmak and lovely and gentle,
But, though I've scarce praised her at all,
I've used up, I find, all the words Oriental
That I can exactly recall!
Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!
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