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Y
ou whispered monstrous
oracles into the caverns of hisears :
W
ith blood of
goats andblood of steers you taught him
monstrous miracles.
W
hite ammon was your
bedfellow ! your chamber was thesteaming nile !
A
nd
with your curvedarchaic smile you watched his
passion come and go .
the sphinx
W
ith syrian oils his
brows were bright: and widespreadas a tent at noon
H
is
marble limbs made palethe moon and lent the day a
larger light .
H
is long hair was nine
cubits’ span and coloured likethat yellow gem
W
hich
hidden in theirgarment’s hem the merchants bring
from kurdistan .
H
is face was as the must
that lies upon a vat of new-made wine :
T
he seas
could notinsapphirine the perfect azure of
his eyes.
H
is thick soft throat was
white as milk and threadedwith thin veins of blue:
A
nd curious pearls like frozen
dew were broidered onhis flowing silk.
O
n pearl and porphyry
pedestalled he was too bright tolook upon :
F
or on
his ivory breastthere shown the wondrous ocean-
emerald ,
T
hat mystic moonlit jewel
which some diver of thecolchian caves
H
ad
found beneath theblackening waves and carried to
the colchian witch .
B
efore his gilded galiot
ran naked vine-wreathedcorybants ,
A
nd lines
of swayingelephants knelt down to draw his
chariot ,
A
nd lines of swarthy
nubians bare up his litter as herode
D
own the great
granite-paven road between the nodding
peacock-fans .
T
he merchants brought himsteatite from sidon in their
painted ships :
T
he
meanest cup thattouched his lips was fashioned
from a chrysolite.
the sphinx
T
he merchants brought him
cedar-chests of rich apparelbound with cords :
H
is train was borne by
memphian lords : young kingswere glad to be his guests .
T
en hundred shaven priests
did bow to ammon’s altar dayand night ,
T
en
hundred lamps did wavetheir light through ammon’s
carven house—and now
F
oul snake and speckled
adder with their young onescrawl from stone to stone
F
or ruined is the house
and prone the great rose-marblemonolith !
W
ild ass or trotting
jackal comes and couches in themouldering gates :
W
ild satyrs call unto
their mates across the fallenfluted drums .
A
nd on the summit of the
pile the blue-faced ape ofhorus sits
A
nd
gibbers while thefigtree splits the pillars of the
peristyle .
T
he god is scattered here
and there : deep hidden inthe windy sand
I
saw
his giant granitehand still clenched in impotent
despair ,
A
nd many a wandering
caravan of stately negroes silken-shawled ,
C
rossing the
desert, haltsappalled before the neck
that none can span .
A
nd many a bearded bedouin
draws back his yellow-striped burnous
T
o
gaze upon the titanthews of him who was thy
paladin .
the sphinx
G
o, seek his fragments on
the moor and wash them in theevening dew ,
A
nd from
their pieces makeanew thy mutilated paramour
!
G
o, seek them where they
lie alone and from theirbroken pieces make
T
hy bruisèd bedfellow :
and wake mad passions in thesenseless stone !
C
harm his dull ear with
syrian hymns ! he loved yourbody ! oh, be kind ,
P
our spikenard on his
hair, and wind soft rolls oflinen round his limbs !
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