AH, hoop of gold that binds the maid Within thy faery circuit strayed! No gem of murdered blood divine, No dragon green of jasper's thine, No piping shepherd-boy and flock Drowsed on the Ethiopian rock And sovran 'gainst the Bacchic mist Sleeps in thee, shut in amethyst; Nor Isis in chalcedony Protecteth, floating fadelessly. Why hast no serpent-wreathen wand Bescored on thee by diamond? No Winged Foot, departure's mark, Treading out Life in garnet dark, Or signed in gloomy emerald Where stands Serapis pedestal'd 'Mid sceptred AEons plumed and starred? No Name they write on Indian sard Nor dreaded word from Dian's zone Legends thee, seal without a stone! Yet, seeing no mage since time began Hath found a greater talisman, Since puissant was thy gleaming pure Both to preserve and to allure, Destroyers of this amulet May look back, and lament thee yet! Thou hast outweathered many an age Hid in the missal's burning page; Queens unto Christ in pilgrim guise Tossed thee, with prayer for paradise, And felt thee rained from Zion's gate Back to the cold hand laid in state! Over the fiord of spirits gone I hear great harpers harp thee on! . . . But who shall now thy bond endure? Farewell! thou art too plain and pure! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE LITTLE BEACH BIRD by RICHARD HENRY DANA (1787-1879) A BALLAD OF ATHLONE; OR, HOW THEY BROKE DOWN THE BRIDGE by AUBREY THOMAS DE VERE AMERICA by JAMES MONROE WHITFIELD LINES TO A BEAUTIFUL AND BUS-RIDING LADY by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS A NAMELESS EPITAPH (2) by MATTHEW ARNOLD THE BALLAD OF BITTER FRUIT by THEODORE FAULLAIN DE BANVILLE |