Page:Maryland, my Maryland, and other poems - Randall - 1908.pdf/88

 The boreal wind outside was keen,
 * And the heavens had frosty eyes that night;

Within was the realm of a tropic queen,
 * Auroral with delight.

Amiddle the foam of the frescoed ships
 * On the pictured walls were the genii grim;

And the languid lotus, with chaliced lips,
 * Was nectared to the brim.

Here bevies of blondes with hyacinth hair,
 * Flirt their silver arms ’mid the fervid dance;

And the dusk-eyed brunette wreathes her snare
 * Through the sensuous advance.

The vivid, voluptuous waltz is done,
 * But the beaux are busy as they can be;

The buzzing butterflies round the sun
 * Of a dazzling coterie.

But I, in the wavering whirl of mirth
 * Cast gloom and glamour far and wide;

To me ’twas the emptiness of earth—
 * The feast of the Barmecide.