VENETIAN VASES
You float and poise with such fantastic grace
Above the unseen tides of air as might
A dolphin or sea-swallow or the white
Swan-city of your birth. Against the rays
Above the unseen tides of air as might
A dolphin or sea-swallow or the white
Swan-city of your birth. Against the rays
Of the waning lamp you shift from phase to phase
Your rose-golds melting into silver blues
And to all subtle, all bewildering hues,
Crocus or apricot or chrysoprase.
And now displaying in unbroken swirl
Clear-edged, opaque, such polished bronze and pearl
As the lagoon in stormy twilights shows.
Now laced and globed and shot with tints that run
Through the still water when the sinking sun
Behind Saint George's of the Seaweed glows.
Your rose-golds melting into silver blues
And to all subtle, all bewildering hues,
Crocus or apricot or chrysoprase.
And now displaying in unbroken swirl
Clear-edged, opaque, such polished bronze and pearl
As the lagoon in stormy twilights shows.
Now laced and globed and shot with tints that run
Through the still water when the sinking sun
Behind Saint George's of the Seaweed glows.