A JAPANESE artist of old took a chisel, And a chunk of smooth ivory, soft as is such, And, wrinkle by wrinkle and bristle by bristle, A little old demon had life at his touch,— A squat little figure All sword-belts and vigour, With claws that could clasp with a terrible clutch! A tea-house acquired him, he sat in its porches For years of red lacquer and joss-stick and fan, The sun on the fir-trees at noon, and the torches Of gay paper lanterns at nightfall, he'd scan, Blind to both for a geisha, The brightest in Asia, Whom he loved, as a demon in ivory can! She was small and delightful, her silk robes would rustle When she slid o'er the matting with tea-tray and pot, She'd a flower in her hair and a sash like a bustle, And she loved her old demon, he fancied, a lot; For she laughed at him often, He'd thrill then and soften; She was called something San, though I never learnt what. But alas for his fancies, he'd misunderstood her; One day, when the peach-bloom was pink on the trees, There came a Mikado's Court Caption who wooed her And wed her and carried her off at his ease, And a P. & O. seaman He looted the demon, And brought him to London across the high seas! Now he sits on my chimney in all his regalia, As bored as a Buddha. He dreams of Japan, Of hill-sides of cherry and banks of azalea And pines that would whisper to maiden and man, But mostly of laughter That rang to the rafter, The laughter of blossom-cheeked somebody San! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HENRY MOORE'S STATUE AT LINCOLN CENTER by KAREN SWENSON THE FALLOW DEER AT THE LONELY HOUSE by THOMAS HARDY A CANADIAN BOAT SONG; WRITTEN ON THE RIVER ST. LAWRENCE by THOMAS MOORE THE PLACE OF THE DAMNED by JONATHAN SWIFT THE ROSES ON THE TERRACE by ALFRED TENNYSON SONG OF YOUTH by LULU PIPER AIKEN ON THE STATUE OF AN ANGEL, BY BIENAIME by WASHINGTON ALLSTON SONNETS OF MANHOOD: 19. THE SOUTHERN PASSION by GEORGE BARLOW (1847-1913) |