Poems (Scudder)/An Antique Earring
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AN ANTIQUE EARRING
Look, here is an ancient earring
In shape like a golden basket
Crowded with poppies; the blossoms carved
From scarlet and white cornelians
The leaves are of emerald.
In shape like a golden basket
Crowded with poppies; the blossoms carved
From scarlet and white cornelians
The leaves are of emerald.
'Twas worn by a Greek hetaira
In Athens—her cheeks were painted
With white and scarlet, her golden hair
Twined in a hundred ringlets
Each stiffened with burnished wire.
In Athens—her cheeks were painted
With white and scarlet, her golden hair
Twined in a hundred ringlets
Each stiffened with burnished wire.
Her eyes were as green as smaragd—
They glittered and darkened with envy
At talk of the great Aspasia
Who was mistress to Pericles.
They glittered and darkened with envy
At talk of the great Aspasia
Who was mistress to Pericles.