THE Musmee has brown velvet eyes Curtain'd with satin, sleepily; You wonder if those lids would rise The newest, strangest sight to see; But when she chatters, laughs, or plays Koto, biwa, or samisen, No jewel gleams with brighter rays Than flash from those dark lashes then. The Musmee has a small brown face, "Musk-melon seed" its perfect shape: Jetty arch'd eyebrows; nose to grace The rosy mouth beneath; a nape, And neck, and chin, and smooth, soft cheeks Carv'd out of sun-burn'd ivory, With teeth, which, when she smiles or speaks, Pearl merchants might come leagues to see! The Musmee's hair could teach the night How to grow dark, the raven's wing How to seem ebon! Grand the sight When, in rich masses, towering, She builds each high black-marble coil, And binds the gold and scarlet in; And thrusts, triumphant, through the toil The Kanzashi, her jewell'd pin. The Musmee has wee, faultless feet, With snow-white @3tabi@1 trimly deck'd, Which patter down the city street In short steps, slow and circumspect; A velvet string between her toes Holds to its place th' unwilling shoe: Pretty and pigeon-like she goes, And on her head a hood of blue. The Musmee wears a wondrous dress -- @3Kimono, obi, imoji@1 -- A rose-bush in Spring loveliness Is not more color-glad to see! Her girdle holds her silver pipe, And heavy swing her long silk sleeves With cakes, love-letters, @3mikan@1 ripe, Small change, musk-bag, and writing-leaves. The Musmee's heart is slow to grief, And quick to pleasure, dance, and song; The Musmee's pocket-handkerchief A square of paper! All day long Gentle, and sweet, and debonair Is, rich or poor, this Asian lass: Heaven have her in its tender care, @3O medeto gozarimas!@1 | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE RIVALS by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON CRITIC AND POET by EMMA LAZARUS THE SAGA OF THE SMALL-BREASTED WOMAN by KAREN SWENSON LWONESOMENESS by WILLIAM BARNES THE LITTLE GIRL LOST, FR. SONGS OF EXPERIENCE by WILLIAM BLAKE PROTHALAMION by EDMUND SPENSER THE MORAL FABLES: THE FOX AND THE WOLF by AESOP LAURENCE BLOOMFIELD IN IRELAND: 5. THE LOCH by WILLIAM ALLINGHAM |