This was the matter of the note, -- A long-forgot deposit, Dropped in an Indian dragon's throat, Deep in a fragrant closet, Piled with a dapper Dresden world, -- Beaux, beauties, prayers, and poses, -- Bonzes with squat legs undercurled, And great jars filled with roses. Ah, heart that wrote! Ah, lips that kissed! You had no thought or presage Into what keeping you dismissed Your simple old-world message! A reverent one. Though we to-day Distrust beliefs and powers, The artless, ageless things you say Are fresh as May's own flowers, Starring some pure primaeval spring, Ere Gold had grown despotic, -- Ere Life was yet a selfish thing, Or Love a mere exotic! I need not search too much to find Whose lot it was to send it, That feel upon me yet the kind Soft hand of her who penned it; And see, through two score years of smoke, In by-gone, quaint apparel, Shine from yon time-black Norway oak The face of Patience Caryl, -- The pale, smooth forehead, silver-tressed; The grey gown, primly flowered; The spotless, stately coif whose crest Like Hector's horse-plume towered; And still the sweet half-solemn look Where some past thought was clinging, As when one shuts a serious book To hear the thrushes singing. I kneel to you! Of those you were, Whose kind old hearts grow mellow, -- Whose fair old faces grow more fair As Point and Flanders yellow; Whom some old store of garnered grief, Their placid temples shading, Crowns like a wreath of autumn leaf With tender tints of fading. Peace to your soul! You died unwed -- Despite this loving letter. And what of John? The less that's said Of John, I think, the better. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: JAMES GARBER by EDGAR LEE MASTERS FORECLOSURE by STERLING ALLEN BROWN FOUR QUARTETS: BURNT NORTON by THOMAS STEARNS ELIOT THE RUBAIYAT, 1879 EDITION: 101 by OMAR KHAYYAM TEARS by LIZETTE WOODWORTH REESE SONNET: 33 by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE PREPARATORY MEDITATIONS, 1ST SERIES: 38 by EDWARD TAYLOR |