free-verse25 lines
Constantinople - Leblebidji*
by Victoria Mary Sackville-WestI know so well the busy cries
That echo through the quarter
Till daylight into evening dies
And stars shine in the water,
So dear they have become to me,
Leblebidji! leblebidji!
On peaceful English country nights
Their rapid gay succession
And all the sea-reflected lights
Will pass from my possession,
But never from my memory,
Leblebidji! leblebidji!
Past English evening scents and sounds,
Past English church-bells ringing,
The Turkish watchman on his rounds,
The Turkish pedlar singing
Through narrow streets above the sea
"Leblebidji! leblebidji,"
Will surely pierce a ghostly way,
The music underlying,
And in the shades of falling day
As in the distance dying,
A little call will come to me,
"Leblebidji!" ...
* Little white beans