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Show & & & SALOME. Jewels were sleeping on her weary arms; - And cradled in the blackness of her hair A ruby bled its crimson life away In one wild, pulsing passion and despair. And round the pallid pillar of her throat, With rainbowod handsa string of opals clung, " And 'twixt her eyes, upon --a thread of gold, A fainting poarl, all trembling, dh'e had hung. Her hands were sapphire-laden, and her ears Were set with emeralds, green as Summer dusk. And When she moved a little breeze uprose, That all but died beneath its weight of musk. And when she moved the ruby in her hair Sketched out red arms to catch and hold the : light; Her sapphired fingers flashed as though their blue Had caught the stars 'and held them all the night; . And when she moved the emeralds in her oars, Swung to and fro, each like a verdant bell; The pearl between her eyes could never sleep. But shook liko some white angel bound in hell. A scarlet robe lay shuddering on her breast, And billowed like red waves upon a sea, While 'round its foot wore many golden flowers That crept in waving blossom to her knee. And then she danced, like some wild scarlet bird; And like a storm-swept poppy in the rain; And like a maddened sunset drunk with dawn; And like a crimson butterfly in pain. And then she danced, a mass of surging flame, That rose and fell and circled round her head, And like two moonbeams silvering o'er a wound, Her pale arms flashing through the mists of rod. Tho jewel in her hair cried out for blood; The poarl between her eyes sang hungrily For blood, wherein to wash its silver face Arid say farewell to pallid chastity; The opals on her throat cried out for blood, And prayed for robes of close and feverish hue. The s&pphires on her hands bogged scarlet blood, To draw thin purple veils across their blue. Her circling scarlet robe cried out for blood With every scarlet mouth and every fold; Its waving flowers were thirsting now for blood To centre every blossom of their gold. Twas blood she danced for, and the debt was paid In scarlet drops for auchVas her request. She held dead horror in a golden dish . . . Her eyes, her robe, and jewels found their rest! Town Topics. |