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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE CALIFORNIA ESCHSCHOLTZIA by AMELIA WOODWARD TRUESDELL

First Line: THE ORANGE HUE OF THE RAINBOW
Last Line: IN A TENT OF THE CLOTH OF GOLD.
Subject(s): CALIFORNIA; COURTS & COURTIERS; GOLD;

The orange hue of the rainbow
Is not so deep as thine;
More rich than a golden goblet
Influshing with sun-lit wine.

On its calyx of pink thy corolla
Catches sheen from the passing sun,
As if powder of pearls were dusted
And gleamed thy soft gold upon.

Of a truth, the dainty fay-maidens
Must have crimped thine edge so thin
Alike to some fairyland pattern,
On thy stamen for golden pin.

Deep down in the cup of thy petals
One spot of a purple stain,
Where the elves forgot in their revels
The last bright drop to drain.

As the scintillant dust of amber
In the sun does thy pollen shine;
Such powder Queen Mab might covet
To burnish her locks divine.

At dusk thou modestly closest
Thy petals with jealous fold;
All night thou cosily sleepest
In a tent of the cloth of gold.



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