ON the loud room falls silence like a trance . . . Pannyre with golden heels comes forth to dance. A thousand folded veil covers her quite. With a long trill the silver flutes invite. She starts, crosses her steps, and with a slow Movement and sinuous her lithe arms throw The quivering gauze into a rhythm bizarre, Which spreads and undulates and floats afar And like a glittering whirlwind passes by . . . And she is flower and flame and butterfly! The rapt eyes follow; there is not a stir. The fury of the dance enkindles her. She turns and whirls, swifter she whirls and wheels! The mad flame in the golden torches reels! . . . Suddenly, in the middle hall, she stops; The veil, but now a flying spiral, drops Suspended, marble-calm each long fold lies Clinging to pointed breasts and polished thighs, And as through flowing water's silken shine, Pannyre now flashes -- naked and divine. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...WHAT I'VE BELIEVED IN by JAMES GALVIN TWENTY-FOUR HOKKU ON A MODERN THEME by AMY LOWELL |