Classic Poem

CHINOISERIE.

In the shade of the yellow bamboo,
Lies Cathay's pretty Princess, Hwâ-Sa,
Who with hope for her bridal prays,
While a slave to await her demands,
Standeth near with a sword in his hands,
And to some painted idol prays.

Her red lip is a coralline dream,
A pure ruby concealing a gleam
Of wee teeth that shine fresh on it;
While her smile, like a rose on the bud,
Lights its purple, patrician proud blood,
And the delicate flesh on it.

There are songs of ennui in her eyes,
And sweet perfumes of tea in her sighs,
And she longs for the moon to come;
While her sandal fan feathered, is pressed
On the fluctuant pulse of her breast,
As she waits for sleep soon to come.

In a languorous, indolent spell,
She sits chewing the luscious betel,
And she dreams of her Mandarin;
Of his forests in distant Soutchoa,
Of its mazes of fern and bamboo,
That with him she would wander in.

And she dreams of his Kaolin towers,
Of his fountains, his Kiosks and his bowers,
And his birds, and the songs of them;
While near by, on the Hoang-Ho's blue waves,
She can hear the soft reeds of her slaves,
And the turbulent gongs of them.

From the intricate depths of the glade,
From the leaves and encompassing shade;
She has heard a sound dear to her;
All the languor has fled from her eyes,
And she waits like a bird in surprise,
Knowing well who is near to her.

Her poor feet are too tiny to walk,
And she dare not the Emperor balk
By admitting a stranger near;
But she can, to the love of her choice
Lend a signal in amorous voice,
And can warn him of danger near.

Of a sudden the shadow of night,
Is cleft through with a great gleam of light,
While hot blood wets the feet of her;
And from mazes of tangled bamboo,
Darts her wooer from distant Soutchoa,
To speak love and entreat of her.

*****


In the shade of the yellow bamboo,
Lies Cathay's fairest Princess, Hwâ-Sa,
And she still for her bridal prays.
But the slave who obeyed her demands,
Stands no longer with sword in his hands,
And she now to the idol prays.