Page:The Poems of Oscar Wilde.pdf/269

 She takes a lute of amber bright,

And from the thicket where he lies

Her lover, with his almond eyes,

Watches her movements in delight.

And now she gives a cry of fear,

And tiny tears begin to start:

A thorn has wounded with its dart

The pink-veined sea-shell of her ear.

And now she laughs a merry note:

There has fallen a petal of the rose

Just where the yellow satin shows

The blue-veined flower of her throat.

With pale green nails of polished jade,

Pulling the leaves of pink and pearl,

There stands a little ivory girl

Under the rose-tree's dancing shade. 255