Naught disturbed my tranquil mood Save a dove, that softly cooed On his lonely branch, supreme Over island, over stream. Collar of pistachio, Throat embroidered silk aglow, Turquoise-blue his bosom's sash, Back and wing-tips all of ash. Pearly lashes necklace-wise Ringed the rubies of his eyes, And his brow was chapleted With a slender golden thread. Sword-sharp was his beak, and white, But its tip was jet as night, Like a pen of silver dipped Into ink, and sable-tipped. Cushioned on his twig alone Like a monarch on a throne, Neck inclined, and burrowing In his soft and folded wing. When he saw my tears aflow (And my weeping moved him so) Startled, he ascended now To the topmost leafy bough. There his outspread wings he shook, Clapping feathers as he took With my heart the air, to go Whither? Ah, I do not know. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TO A SCREEN-MAKER by MARIANNE MOORE TO WHISTLER, AMERICAN; ON LOAN EXHIBIT OF PAINTINGS AT TATE GALLERY by EZRA POUND A WOMAN'S SHORTCOMINGS by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING THE CHILD'S FIRST GRIEF by FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS LYRICS AND EPICS by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH PEARLS OF THE FAITH: 88. AL-MUGHNI by EDWIN ARNOLD |