Ambergris

AMBERGRIS 69 Her chaste lips flame, as flames aspire Of poppies in mid-June. She lifts the eyelids amethyst, And looks from half-shut eyes, Gleaming with miracles of mist, Grey shadows on blue skies ; And on her whole face sunrise kissed, Child-wonderment most wise. The whitest arms in all the earth Blush from the lilac bed. Like a young star even at its birth Shines out the golden head. Sad violets are the maiden girth, Pale flames night-canopied. O gentlest lady ! Lift those eyes, And curl those lips to kiss ! Melt my young boyhood in thy sighs, A subtler Salmacis ! Hike, in that peace, these ecstasies ; In that fair fountain, this ! She fades as starlight on the stream, As dewfall in the dell ; All life and love, one ravishing gleam Stolen from sleep’s crucible ; That kiss, that vision is a dream :— And I—most miserable ! Still Echo wails upon the steep, “ To love—and to forget ! ” Still sombre whispers from the deep Sob through night’s golden net, And waft upon the wings of sleep The name of Margaret.