The Dial (Third Series)/Volume 75/Majesty Walks In The Garden: Spain
MAJESTY WALKS IN THE GARDEN: SPAIN
All in black, among black cypresses,
All in black, white-faced as hoar-frost is,
With heavy scarlet lips, the king walks slowly
Down the hedged paths, bending his long cold face
Over the rosary trickling through his fingers.
All in black, moving so sombrely
Among the cypresses, with the small white Christ
In agony, between his cruel fingers—
All in black, pacing down gravelled walks,
His heavy scarlet lips ceaselessly moving,
The king awaits the hour of his appointment
With his new mistress,
Sombrely, slowly,
Marking the minutes by his trickling prayers,
His trickling prayers that focus on the cross
White as the body of his latest love.
All in black, between black cypresses,
All in black, the king awaits the hour.