A SCARLET bird upon her shoulder's snow Was perched, and whistled to his envious fellows; A thousand tints of feathers lit the air, Bewildering greens and reds and blues and yellows. Primeval glories clustered in her form; Uncramped her curves; she was the joy of Beauty. An unseen angel drank her with his eyes, Then trembled to the heart. His name was Duty. While innocently naked thus she stood, With lion-whelps and tiger-cubs around her, A wall of creepers parted. From the wood Leapt Adam—doubling Paradise—and found her. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE OLD MEN by WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS ODE ON THE PLEASURE ARISING FROM VICISSITUDE by THOMAS GRAY SNAKE by DAVID HERBERT LAWRENCE THE CAVALIER'S SONG by WILLIAM MOTHERWELL DRAPIER'S HILL by JONATHAN SWIFT COLUMBUS AT THE CONVENT [JULY, 1491] by JOHN TOWNSEND TROWBRIDGE |