BENEATH the sullen slope of shadowy skies, Midmost this flowerless, wind-bewildered space (Once a fair garden, now a desert-place) Ah! what voluptuous hues are these that rise In sudden lustre, on my startled eyes? They glow like roses on an orient face, Glimpsed in swift flashes of enchanting grace, 'Twixt the shy harem's gold-wrought tapestries! Ye bright Japonicas! your glorious gleam Tints with strange light the enamored waves of air, And wafts of such coy fragrance round you float Fancy transcends these boundaries blanched and bare, For beauty lures her in a ravishing dream Of roseate lips, dark locks, and swan-white throat! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...UP IN THE MORNING EARLY by ROBERT BURNS BACON'S EPITAPH, MADE BY HIS MAN by JOHN COTTON (1640-1699) EPITAPHS OF THE WAR, 1914-18: BOMBER IN LONDON by RUDYARD KIPLING THE GRAVE OF HOMER by ALCAEUS OF MESSENE OSTRA by ELLEN FRANCES BALDWIN ON THE DEATH OF MRS. JENNINGS by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD |