CARMEN'S ROSE
KISSED and tossed to her lover
From the dusk of her midnight hair,
She knew the touch of her laughing lips
Was a never-ending snare.
From the dusk of her midnight hair,
She knew the touch of her laughing lips
Was a never-ending snare.
Rose of a hundred legends
In your velvet petals curled,
Forever unfading and fragrant
You are held to the heart of the world.
In your velvet petals curled,
Forever unfading and fragrant
You are held to the heart of the world.
Born of the sunshine of loving,
Dyed deep with the passions of years,
Lang'rous with breath of desire,
Dew-wet with glisten of tears—
Dyed deep with the passions of years,
Lang'rous with breath of desire,
Dew-wet with glisten of tears—
Type for all ages to come
Of love and of jealousy's hate,
Your perfume is life's reddest wine,
Quaffed deep from beakers of fate.
Of love and of jealousy's hate,
Your perfume is life's reddest wine,
Quaffed deep from beakers of fate.
THE PRAYER RUG
AS supple as a tiger's skin
With wine hues and with ochre blent,
It lies upon my polished floor—
Four square feet of the Orient.
No more than that, yet space enough
With wine hues and with ochre blent,
It lies upon my polished floor—
Four square feet of the Orient.
No more than that, yet space enough
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