Page:Collected poems vol 2 de la mare.djvu/85

 Dark was the sea they gambolled in,
 * And thick with silver fish,

Dark as green glass blown clear and thin
 * To be a monarch's dish.

They sate to sup in a jasmine bower,
 * Lit pale with flies of fire,

Their bowls the hue of the iris-flower,
 * And lemon their attire.

Sweet wine in little cups they sipped,
 * And golden honeycomb

Into their bowls of cream they dipped,
 * Whipt light and white as foam.

Now Alliolyle, where the sand-flower blows,
 * Taught three old apes to sing—

Taught three old apes to dance on their toes
 * And caper around in a ring.

They yelled them hoarse and they croaked them sweet,
 * They twirled them about and around,

To the noise of their voices they danced with their feet,
 * They stamped with their feet on the ground.

But down to the shore skipped Lallerie,
 * His parrot on his thumb,