WITH spices, wines, and silken stuffs, The stout ship sai1ed down, And with the ship the singer came Unto the old sea town. "Peace to ye!" quoth the sailor folk, "A month and more have we Been listening to his songs. Ah, God! None sings so sweet as he." Up from the wharves the salt wind blew, And filled the steep highway; Seven slender plum trees caught the sun Within a courtyard gray. Out came the daughter of the king; Oh, very fair was she! She was the whitest bough a-grow, So fair, so fair was she! The singer sang, "My love," he sang, "Is like a white plum-tree!" Then silence fell on house and court; No other word sang he. The king's daughter, when she was old, Sat in a broidered gown, And spun the flax from her fair fields -- Oh, it was sweet in town! Seven plum-trees stood down in the court, Each one was white as milk; The king's daughter rose softly there, Rustling her broidered silk. "Oh, set the wheel away, my maids, And sing that song to me The singer sang!" "My love," sang they, "Is like a white plum-tree!" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE COW IN APPLE TIME by ROBERT FROST THE TWO OLD BACHELORS by EDWARD LEAR THE LAND O' THE LEAL by CAROLINA OLIPHANT NAIRNE WHISPERS OF HEAVENLY DEATH by WALT WHITMAN BUDDHA AND BRAHMA by HENRY BROOKS ADAMS |