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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
SILVER SLEEVES, by MARY ATWATER TAYLOR First Line: She was a queen with silver sleeves and ermine Last Line: -- she is content! Subject(s): Courts & Courtiers; Peasantry; Wealth; Riches; Fortunes | |||
She was a queen with silver sleeves and ermine, And she wandered in the stately castle-wood, She was a dryad and a forest-shadow, -- Lovely, not good. She was delicate and fine and haughty, She hated ceremonies and she hated things, She was a thread of pale-curbed passion, -- She was the King's. The wood re-echoed to her mocking laughter, She struck her maid and kissed her falcon's head; "Oh, I am sick of courtiers and of manners God knows!" she said. "May the King perish on his latest hunting, The castle burn, the banners cease to flaunt, Courts choke to death and vanish. A butcher Is what I want." * * * * * * * * A poacher strode thro the castle-wood, He was a thick-necked bully and a liar . . . The queen with silver sleeves laughed gently; -- Her eyes were fire. "Hither, lout, and cease your clumsy kneeling, I am done with courts and all the silly play, Stop your staring and your stupid smirking . . . Take me away. The yokel took her. Many years have passed them. He is still a savage, huge, unspent; He hates this life with her he cannot fathom . . . -- She is content! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ALL LIFE IN A LIFE by EDGAR LEE MASTERS FOUR POEMS ABOUT JAMAICA: 3. A HAIRPIN TURN ABOVE READING, JAMAICA by WILLIAM MATTHEWS IMAGINE YOURSELF by EVE MERRIAM THE PROPHET by LUCILLE CLIFTON I AM FIFTY-TWO YEARS OLD' by KENNETH REXROTH LAST VISIT TO THE SWIMMING POOL SOVIETS by KENNETH REXROTH PORTRAIT OF THE AUTHOR AS A YOUNG ANARCHIST by KENNETH REXROTH CHORUS-GIRL by MARY ATWATER TAYLOR CROSSROADS' BURIAL (SUGGESTED BY GALSWORTHY'S APPLE TREE) by MARY ATWATER TAYLOR |
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