THE blue-leaved fig-trees swell with laughter, Gold fissures split the ripe fruits after, And like a gold-barred tiger, shade Leaps in the darkness that they made. The long-ribbed leaves shed light that dapples Silenus like a tun of apples; Gold-freckled, fruit-shaped faces stare At nymphs with bodies white as air. The ancient house rocked emptily "Horned brothers, creep inside and see Through my tall windows: the abode Of noise is on the dusty road." They creep . . . strange hands are on the hasp . . . Silenus, sleepy as a wasp, Amid the fruit-ripe heat, as in An apricot or nectarine, Replies, "The dust is wise and old . . . For glistening fruits and Ophir's gold Are gathered there to wake again In our flesh, like a tune's refrain." The five musicians with their bray Shatter the fruit-ripe heat of day; Their faces, wrinkled, kind, and old, Are masked by the hot sun with gold; Like fountains of blue water, gush Their beards. Strange-feathered birds that hush, Their song, move not so proud as these Smiles floating, ageless courtesies. They stand upon the dust outside; Their tunes like drops of water died. Yet still we hear their slow refrain, "King Pharaoh, gay lad, come again!" Miss Nettybun, beneath the tree, Perceives that it is time for tea And takes the child, a muslined moon, Through the lustrous leaves of afternoon. And tea-time comes with strawberry Jam -- yet where, oh @3where@1, is she? On that music floating, gone To China and to Babylon; Never again she'll go to bed In the sleepy house of Sir Rotherham Redde! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...JEPHTHA'S DAUGHTER by GEORGE GORDON BYRON DOUGLAS, DOUGLAS, TENDER AND TRUE by DINAH MARIA MULOCK CRAIK IF WE MUST DIE by CLAUDE MCKAY IMPROMPTU LINES ON JULY FOURTH by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS SPRING WATER by KENNETH SLADE ALLING ENGLISH ENCOURAGEMENT OF ART (FIRST READING) by WILLIAM BLAKE THE WANDERER: 5. IN HOLLAND: TO THE QUEEN OF SERPENTS by EDWARD ROBERT BULWER-LYTTON |