MARGUERITE.[1]
Born of the moonlight, cradled in foam,
Deep beneath Oman's waters
A pearl lay nestled within its home;
Where the laughter of the sea-nymph's daughters
Came ringing along through the rock-roofed caves
Which they made their gladsome dwelling,
And shivered the crests of the wind-swept waves
That over their heads were swelling.
Down where the twilight is misty and green,
Where the gold sands cradle the amber,
Where the richest gems of the main are seen
And the snaky sea-weeds clamber;
Where the sea-shells sing the songs they caught
When they roved on the seething billow,
Ere they laid them down, like a solemn thought,
To serve for the Peri's pillow;
Close lay the pearl within its shell
Till the hand of the diver caught it,
And, tearing it forth from its natal cell,
To the glare of the daylight brought it.
Snatched from the home of its magic birth,
While the waters sobbed their sadness,
The song of the Peris rose to earth
From their happy homes of gladness:—
- ↑ Precious Pearl.
