Classic Poem

I know that beauty incarnate is my own,
That languid sunbeams slumber in my eyes,
That no gem-glittering Queen on Asian throne,
With my unique and peerless splendor vies.
While Venus, Phryne, Aspasia, have not shown
Such rare perfection in such perfect guise.

Yet no sweet love-word ever lulled my ear,
I pass in my magnificence unwed.
Men that might win me, seized by some vague fear,
Tremble at my approach and turn the head,
And even dumb beasts to whom all folk are dear,
Cast wild eyes on me and crouch down in dread.

I understand the awful mystery now,
Beyond our mind's conception, so supreme
That I dare not rebel or question how,
An august presence in a shadowy dream
Told me its grandeur, and hath made me bow
Humble and mute before the things that seem .

I know my radiant beauty's flawless worth,
My tresses ebon and my great eyes' light,
Are price and offering of no mortal birth,
And were not fashioned for the ravished sight
Of amorous beings on this common earth,
But for a lover of far loftier right.

I haste to meet him when the swift rain drips
Thro' fern and forest, palpitant and warm,
I feel his passionate kisses on my lips,
When sensuous winds caress my swaying form.
I note his jealousy by the moon's eclipse,
His roused mistrust in every maddening storm.

For me the gold auroras bud and bloom,
He doth possess my spirit everywhere,
I wait his advent in the mad simoum
His messages of love burn space and air.
In dawn's great glamour and in night's grave gloom
I am invoked his rapture-moods to share.

He shakes the trembling earth at my command,
One glance of mine can calm his puissant ire,
I hold the fate of nations in my hand,
As weak and fragile as a rotting briar,
And in the livid, lurid lightning grand
I see his eyes gleam on me thro' the fire.

The great sea, like a spaniel at my feet,
Bounds up and fawns where'er I chance to go,
The sheen of perfect stars is only meet
Amid the perfumes of my hair to glow,
My regal lover, should my eyes entreat,
Would to me immortality bestow.

Thought's veil of darkness has been cast aside,
I dare not doubt, I can but tremble and see
With awful fear, yet with a speechless pride
That this inevitable thing must be,
I know my beauty has been deified,
I know that God is amorous of me.