22
THE BLACK PRINCESS.
Not of the Lamp, not of the Ring,
The helpless, powerful Slave was she,
But of a subtler, fiercer Thing:
She was the Slave of Slavery.
The helpless, powerful Slave was she,
But of a subtler, fiercer Thing:
She was the Slave of Slavery.
Court-lace nor jewels had she seen:
She wore a precious smile, so rare
That at her side the whitest queen
Were dark—her darkness was so fair.
She wore a precious smile, so rare
That at her side the whitest queen
Were dark—her darkness was so fair.
Nothing of loveliest loveliness
This strange, sad Princess seemed to lack;
Majestic with her calm distress
She was, and beautiful though black:
This strange, sad Princess seemed to lack;
Majestic with her calm distress
She was, and beautiful though black:
Black, but enchanted black, and shut
In some vague Giant's tower of air,
Built higher than her hope was. But
The True Knight came and found her there.
In some vague Giant's tower of air,
Built higher than her hope was. But
The True Knight came and found her there.
The Knight of the Pale Horse, he laid
His shadowy lance against the spell
That hid her Self: as if afraid,
The cruel blackness shrank and fell.
His shadowy lance against the spell
That hid her Self: as if afraid,
The cruel blackness shrank and fell.
