Page:A Treasury of South African Poetry.djvu/69

 Diaz's croziered pillar there Stands by wicked Van Noodt's chair, And the plate that graced his board Is guarded by Van Riebeck's sword. Near, an old bronze Buddhist bell Graven with an Eastern spell— With its Mane padme om; Near, a Chinese ivory comb; Near, an idol grinning white Cased in ocean stalactite, Which has suffered a sea-change Into something rich and strange; Near, a grim, terrific god; Near, a teapot with an odd Chinese dragon trailing round Golden folds on copper ground. There's a tiny English shoe Of Morocco, cream and blue, Made with all a cobbler's skill By "Sam Miller in Cornhill." Nothing more the legend says; But I, in love with bygone days, Look until I hear it tell (Like a murmur in a shell) Many a story quaint and sweet Of the lady fair whose feet Twinkled with a charm divine Beneath her ample crinoline, Making her tortured lovers dream That heaven itself was blue and cream.

As down the Heerengracht she went Each hat was doffed, each head was bent;