I put your leaves aside, One by one: The stiff, broad outer leaves; The smaller ones, Pleasant touch, veined with purple; The glazed inner leaves. One by one I parted from your leaves, Until you stood up like a white flower Swaying slightly in the evening wind. White flower, Flower of wax, of jade, of unstreaked agate; Flower with surfaces of ice, With shadows faintly crimson. Where in all the garden is there such a flower? The stars crowd through the lilac leaves To look at you. The low moon brightens you with silver. The bud is more than the calyx. There is nothing to equal a white bud, Of no colour, and of all, Burnished by moonlight, Thrust upon by a softly-swinging wind. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE SEARCH (1) by JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL THE CAP AND BELLS by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS AUTHOR TO HIS CHILD by FRANCES AIRTH THE LITTLE REBEL by JOSEPH ASHBY-STERRY A SONG: REVENGE AGAINST CYNTHIA by PHILIP AYRES VERSES, RESPECTFULLY & AFFECTIONALLY INSCRIBED TO PROFESSIONAL FRIEND by BERNARD BARTON |