Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

COURT LADY STANDING UNDER CHERRY TREE by JOHN GOULD FLETCHER

First Line: SHE IS AN IRIS
Last Line: AND OF THE IRIS STALK THAT IS BROKEN IN THE FOUNTAIN.
Subject(s): IRIS (FLOWER); JAPAN; JAPANESE;
She is an iris,
Dark purple, pale rose,
Under the gnarled boughs
That shatter their stars of bloom.
She waves delicately
With the movement of the tree.

Of what is she dreaming?

Of long nights lit with orange lanterns,
Of wine cups and compliments and kisses of the two-sword men.
And of dawn when weary sleepers
Lie outstretched on the mats of the palace,
And of the iris stalk that is broken in the fountain.



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