free-verse24 lines

To A Lady Playing The Harp

Thy tones are silver melted into sound,

And as I dream

I see no walls around,

But seem to hear

A gondolier

Sing sweetly down some slow Venetian stream.

Italian skies--that I have never seen--

I see above.

(Ah, play again, my queen;

Thy fingers white

Fly swift and light

And weave for me the golden mesh of love.)

Oh, thou dusk sorceress of the dusky eyes

And soft dark hair,

'T is thou that mak'st my skies

So swift to change

To far and strange:

But far and strange, thou still dost make them fair.

Now thou dost sing, and I am lost in thee

As one who drowns

In floods of melody.

Still in thy art

Give me this part,

Till perfect love, the love of loving crowns.