SHE was skilled in music and the dance And the old arts of love And the court of the poisoned rose And the perfumed glove, And gave her beautiful hand To the pale Dauphin A triple crown to win -- And she loved little dogs And parrots And red-legged partridges And the golden fishes of the Duc de Guise And a pigeon with a blue ruff She had from Monsieur d'Elboeuf. Master John Knox was no friend to her; She spoke him soft and kind, Her honeyed words were Satan's lure The unwary soul to bind. "Good sir, doth a lissome shape And a comely face Offend your God His Grace Whose wisdom maketh these Golden fishes of the Duc de Guise?" She rode through Liddesdale with a song; "Ye streams sae wondrous strang, Oh, mak' me a wrack as I come back But spare me as I gang." While a hill-bird cried and cried Like a spirit lost By the grey storm-wind tost. Consider the way she had to go. Think of the hungry snare, The net she herself had woven, Aware or unaware, Of the dancing feet grown still, The blinded eyes. Queens should be cold and wise, And she loved little things, Parrots And red-legged partridges And the golden fishes of the Duc de Guise And the pigeon with the blue ruff She had from Monsieur d'Elboeuf. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CAPPER KAPLINSKI AT THE NORTH SIDE CUE CLUB by HAYDEN CARRUTH CONTRA MORTEM: THE WHEEL OF BEING I by HAYDEN CARRUTH SONG:SO WHY DOES THIS DEAD CARNATION by HAYDEN CARRUTH TO-MORROW TO FRESH WOODS AND PASTURES NEW' by AMY LOWELL DEAF HOUSE AGENT by KATHERINE MANSFIELD THE ARABIAN SHAWL by KATHERINE MANSFIELD DEAR OLD DICK by EDGAR LEE MASTERS TOWARD THE GULF; DEDICATED TO THEODORE ROOSEVELT by EDGAR LEE MASTERS |