Page:All quiet along the Potomac and other poems.djvu/37

Where the fair "Montijo" a picture stood—
Far the fairest thing in the royal wood;

And it touched her cap with its plume of snow,
Lit the golden wealth of the tress below,
Showed the hunting-suit all of courtly green,
With the royal "N" on the buttons' sheen;

Then it softly kissed, with a tender grace,
The lifted glance of her lovely face.
O maiden fair, both the bird and sun
Know a woman s heart and an empire won.

****
Where the mould'ring dust of the Pharaohs slept,
And the desert sand over temples crept,
Came a barge ablaze with the fleur-de-lis
To the bridal-rite of the wedded sea.

Once again the sun with his tropic stare,
Looking fondly down on her face so fair,
Underneath the folds of the banners bright,
Saw a royal form in its robe of white—

Saw the wealth and pomp of an empire shed
On the jewelled locks of Eugénie's head—
Saw the queenly wave of the snowy hand
As the courtiers bent to the burning sand.

****
A stripling pale and sad and worn,
From love and hope and kingdom torn,