28.10.2007, 10:00
SALOME.
(A PICTURE BY HENRI REGNAULT).
FAIR sword of doom, and dripped with martyr blood
Thee Regnault saw not, whom these eyes have seen.
No Judith of the Faubourg, mænad-queen
Pale on her tumbrel-throne, when the live flood
Foams through revolted Paris, unwithstood,
Is of thy kin. Blossom and bud between,
Clear-browed Salome, with her silk head's sheen,
Lips where a linnet might have pecked at food,
Pure curves of neck, and dimpling hand aloft,
Moved like a wave at sunrise. Herod said
( A boon for maiden freshness ! ask of me
What toy may please, though half my Galilee ;
And with beseeching eyes and bird-speech soft
She fluted, c Give me here John Baptist's head.'
(A PICTURE BY HENRI REGNAULT).
FAIR sword of doom, and dripped with martyr blood
Thee Regnault saw not, whom these eyes have seen.
No Judith of the Faubourg, mænad-queen
Pale on her tumbrel-throne, when the live flood
Foams through revolted Paris, unwithstood,
Is of thy kin. Blossom and bud between,
Clear-browed Salome, with her silk head's sheen,
Lips where a linnet might have pecked at food,
Pure curves of neck, and dimpling hand aloft,
Moved like a wave at sunrise. Herod said
( A boon for maiden freshness ! ask of me
What toy may please, though half my Galilee ;
And with beseeching eyes and bird-speech soft
She fluted, c Give me here John Baptist's head.'