Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, MOON MADNESS (IN THE PSEUDO-CHINESE STYLE OF THE MODERNISTIC SCHOOL), by ROBERT WOOD CLACK


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

MOON MADNESS (IN THE PSEUDO-CHINESE STYLE OF THE MODERNISTIC SCHOOL), by                    
First Line: Fragrant evening whispers from the south
Last Line: Than are the dead ashes of my heart!
Subject(s): Moon


Fragrant evening whispers from the south
Herald the Mating Moon.
With every instinct attuned
I clamber over the rough brick wall
And drop into your enchanted garden.
I creep over the marble bridge
Across your tiny lake,
In whose clear depths is mirrored
The dark vault of space
With its setting of living yellow sapphires.

Flaming lilies wantonly spray their golden pollen
Upon the tranquil bosom of the pool.
The purple wistaria bends down
To kiss the bashful blushing lotus buds.
Tuberoses and hyacinths pour forth on the twilight air
Their heavy seductive perfumes.
And there you lie in all your loveliness
Like a carved-ivory moonflower set in turquoise jade,
Asleep on the mossy bank
Beneath the red-lacquered sundial.
The frosty moonbeams on the shimmering water
Are not purer than is your half-revealed breast;
Nor is the cherry's sheen more tempting than your warm lips --
In you are all of Spring's lures
Perfectly personified!
But with anguished soul I turn away
And rush through a gap
In the thorny hedge --
Out into the deep yellow dust of the rutted road beyond.
Alas! ... it is no bleaker, no more sterile,
Than are the dead ashes of my heart!





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