Poised like a fire-fly, burnished steel and blue, She led the tawdry line of painted smiles And darkened eyelids, and the tripping miles Of slender silk-shod legs, her slight suede shoe Keeping its perfect time. Her small head knew Far more than any in those swaying files Of love and lust and men and high-paid wiles, And the sharp price her white young beauty drew. Yet in that mass she was the only one Who fired your tenderness, and held in trance Your sated disillusion, with her grace, Even though you knew she would be swiftly done. With tarnished dimming of her eyes' clear glance And ash instead of firelight in her face! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A SONG OF ETERNITY IN TIME by SIDNEY LANIER IN WALKED BUD WITH A PALETTE by CLARENCE MAJOR |