THE ETERNAL CHILDREN
Brightening the light, that shimmer’d and shone,
Dimpled, dazzled and sparkled on,
And was as it had been.
And, with its waters, unafraid,
Unharm’d, the Little-Ones romp’d and play’d.—
Some went on swimming in and out
With the swimming waves;
Some, rosy in the kissing foam,
White in the rosy caves,
Went, seeking and finding treasures,
Came, running, to compare—
Three there were never alike,
But oft-times a pair:
Gold balls of amber,
Sea-buds and bells.
Bright-branching sea-weeds;
And rare sea-shells—
Bowls of rainbow; mass’d moonlight carven
To coil and column and curl;
Airy, blown-away petals of sunset.
Crocus, violet, flame and scarlet,
Pink, and purple and pearl.
Aquamarine, ultramarine,
Dovecolour, and dun,
Warm white as the white clouds.
Yellow as the sun—
And whole each one!
Slips and slices of ruddy-rich agate,
And blue lapis-lazuli:
Snow-white coral, and bright black jet—
And all of them shone as though they were wet,
When they had long been dry.
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