Page:Poems Davidson.djvu/40

Which perfumed, ere it kissed the ground,
Each zephyr's pinion hovering round;
The lofty plane-tree's haughty brow⁴
Glittered beneath the moon's pale glow;
And wide the plantain's arms were spread,⁵
The guardian of its native bed.

Where was Amreta at this hour?
Say! was she slumbering in her bower?
Or gazing on this scene of rest,
Less calm, less peaceful than her breast?
Or was she resting in the dream
Of brighter days, on Fortune's stream?
Or was she weeping Friendship broken,
Or sighing o'er Love's withered token?

No! she was calmly resting there:
Her eye ne'er spoke of hope nor fear,
But 'mid the blaze of splendor round,
Forever bent upon the ground,
Their long dark lashes hid from view
The brilliant glances which they threw;
Her cheek was neither pale nor red;
The rose, upon its summer bed,
Could never boast so faint a hue—
So faint, and yet so brilliant too!

Though round her Cashmere's incense streamed;
Though Persia's gems around her beamed;
Though diamonds of Golconda shed
Their warmest lustre o'er her head;