Page:Verses–Blanche·Baughan-1898.pdf/115

 But one, apart a little from the rest, And to the sea most near, kept still her face Seaward, as tho’ a faithful watcher yet, Even amid dreams, for somewhat that should come. Those other maids but as a fair hedge were For this, the fairest of the garden. She Liege lady was by birth and beauty,―she, Nereia, Princess, sea-named and sea-soul’d.

For by the sea it was she first drew breath, And the first sight that met her opening eyes Was the broad blue, a-dazzle with the sun. Nor ever in all her sixteen years had she Made once a journey to the dismal lands That never see the ocean; but her ears Might still receive its music, and her lips Echo the voice of the waves. Her dancing eyes Were sea-blue, and the sun shone clear in them (Yea, you might read, if you knew how to read,