Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, CARAVANS, by JOSEPHINE PRESTON PEABODY


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

CARAVANS, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: What bring ye me, o camels, across the southern desert
Last Line: I would have had the winged mirage of yonder desert.
Alternate Author Name(s): Marks, Lionel S., Mrs.


WHAT bring ye me, O camels, across the southern desert,
The wan and parching desert, pale beneath the dusk?
Ye great slow-moving ones, faithful as care is faithful,
Uncouth as dreams may be, sluggish as far-off ships, --
What bring ye me, O camels?

"We bring thee gold like sunshine, saving that it warms not;
And rarest purple bring we, as dark as all the garnered
Bloom of many grape-vines; and spices subtly mingled
For a lasting savor: the precious nard and aloes;
The bitter-sweet of myrrh, like a sorrow having wings;
Ghostly breath of lilies bruised -- how white they were! --
And the captive life of many a far rose-garden.
Jewels bring we hither, surely stars once fallen,
Torn again from darkness: the sunlit frost of topaz,
Moon-fire pent in opals, pearls that even the sea loves.
Webs of marvel bring we, broideries that have drunken
Deep of all life-color from a thousand lives, --
Each the royal cere-cloth of a century.
We come! What wouldst thou more "

All this dust, these ashes, have ye brought so far?
All these days, these years, have I waited in the sun?
I would have had the winged Mirage of yonder desert.





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