Page:One of Cleopatra's nights by F.S. Faust.djvu/17

 Soft-footed steps and wave of rosy veils; And next the freshness and the eager stir Of life that slept in beauty and awoke To sing. So lyre and flute rose high, and leaped The dancers in triumphant ecstacy. And as it ended all that group retired, And all the players of the lyre and flute, And they, the Nubians of the chosen tribe.

And silence grew out through that mighty hall Save where beyond the wall a sound was made Like half-remembered music of a dream. And the drooped lights purple and golden shone. And through the air the rich Messenian wine Left a sweet odor like the breath that stirs The lips of Gods, when Gods are bent on love. And Creon let his eyes through a long space Fall on her, and he thrilled to think such beauty Should be near his touch; gazed ever on those lips That smiled less often than they seemed, and throat Even more white than soft, and there below, Just hidden by the loose robe girt around, Her breasts made gradual swell, and the eloth flowed Softly along her waist, o'er hips and thighs Whose roundness made sweet magic of each fold; And last his eye eaught on the sandalled feet Crossed by thick-jeweled thongs that showed more dark Against the tender white, where a small vein Ran out a little tracery of blue. Up in the east an eager radiance sprang