Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


A BUDGET OF PARADOXES by JOHN MARTLEY

First Line: CHILD IN THY BEAUTY; EMPRESS IN THY PRIDE
Last Line: NYMPH, WITH ONE WELCOME, THEE AND THESE WE GREET.
Subject(s): ADMIRATION;

CHILD in thy beauty; empress in thy pride;
Sweet and unyielding as the summer's tide;
Starlike to tremble, starlike to abide.
Guiltless of wounding, yet more true than steel;
Gem-like thy light to flash and to conceal;
Tortoise to bear, insect to see and feel.
Blushing and shy, yet dread we thy disdain;
Smiling, a sunbeam fraught with hints of rain;
Trilling love-notes to freedom's fierce refrain.
The days are fresh, the hours are wild and sweet,
When spring and winter, dawn and darkness meet;
Nymph, with one welcome, thee and these we greet.



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