Alice: An Adultery

THE THIRD DAY “ My love is most immaculate white and red.” Love’s Labour's Lost. She was more graceful than the royal palm ; Tall, with imperial looks, and excellence Most simply swathed in spotless elegance, And holy and tuneful like some stately psalm. Her breath was like a grove of myrrh and balm, And all the sight grew dim before the sense Of blind attraction toward ; an influence Not incompatible with her own calm. All the red roses of the world were blended To give the lively colour of her face ; All the white lilies of the sea shone splendid Where the blue veins afforded them a space ; Like to the shapely fragrance of dawn’s shrine She gleamed through mist, enchanting, Erycine. 24