Page:An epic of women and other poems (IA epicofwomenother00osha).pdf/86

 He sought in every precious place and store, And gathered all sweet essences that are In all the bodies: so He made one more Her body, the most beautiful by far.

Pure coral with pure pearl engendering, Bore Her the fairest flower of the sea; And for the wonder of that new-made thing God ceaséd then, and nothing more made He.

So the beginning of her was this way: Full of sea savours, beautiful and good, Made of sun, sky, and sea,—more fair than they— On the green margin of the sea she stood.

The coral colour lasted in her veins, Made her lips rosy like a sea-shell's rims; The purple stained her cheeks with splendid stains, And the pearl's colour clung upon her limbs.

She took her golden hair between her hands; The faded gold and amber of the seas Dropped from it in a shower upon the sands; The crispéd hair enwrapped her like a fleece: