free-verse34 lines
Constantinople - Retour En Songe
by Victoria Mary Sackville-WestAfter a dream-dim voyage
We came with sails all set
Towards the city of the sea,
And it was wonderful to me
To find her reigning yet.
Oh beauty that my eyes and heart
Had feasted on before!
The evening mosques were brushed with gold,
The water lapped a lazy fold
Upon that lovely shore;
The gardens of her terraced hills
Rose up above the port,
And little houses half concealed
The presence of a light revealed,
And here my journey's end was sealed,
And I reached the home I sought.
Those windows I had opened wide
To welcome in the sun!
Those stairs that only happy feet
Had measured with their running beat!
That well-remembered winding street!
Twelve months that were as one!
Should others with their sordid cares
And troubles enter here?
Love hung about the rooms like smoke,
And peace descended as a cloak,
Should I allow the vulgar folk
To desecrate that year?
I laid the fuse with steady hand;
We sailed into the night,
From deck I watched the flames arise
Remorseless as my tearless eyes
That, with the waves and reddened skies,
Flung back the angry light.