FOURTEEN small broidered berries on the hem Of Circe's mantle, each of magic gold; Fourteen of lone Calypso's tears that rolled Into the sea, for pearls to come of them; Fourteen clear signs of omen in the gem With which Medea human fate foretold; Fourteen small drops, which Faustus, growing old, Craved of the Fiend, to water Life's dry stem. It is the pure white diamond Dante brought To Beatrice; the sapphire Laura wore When Petrarch cut it sparkling out of thought; The ruby Shakespeare hewed from his heart's core; The dark, deep emerald that Rossetti wrought For his own soul, to wear for evermore. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A POISON TREE, FR. SONGS OF EXPERIENCE by WILLIAM BLAKE THE LITTLE BLACK BOY, FR. SONGS OF INNOCENCE by WILLIAM BLAKE INSCRIPTION ON THE MONUMENT OF A NEWFOUNDLAND DOG by GEORGE GORDON BYRON HUGH SELWYN MAUBERLEY: 8. BRENNBAUM by EZRA POUND A HIGH-TONED OLD CHRISTIAN WOMAN by WALLACE STEVENS UNDER MY WINDOW by THOMAS WESTWOOD LINES TO ROBERT ALDERSON UPON HIS DEPARTURE FROM WARRINGTON by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD |