Song of Sappho's Arabian Daughter

Clark Ashton Smith

Dreaming, I said, "When she is come,
This desert garden that is me
For her shall offer mellowly
Its myrrh and its olibanum—
When she is come.

"The flowers of the noon for her
With blossoms of the sun shall bloom,
The fading roses breathe perfume,
The lightly fallen petals stir,
And sigh to her.

"Her presence, like a living wind
Each little leaf makes visible,
Shalt enter there, or lilac the spell
(Upon the lulling leaves divined)
Of silent wind."

Alas! for she has come and gone,
And in the garden, green for her,
The flowers fall, the flowers stir
Only to winds of night and dawn:
For she has gone.

Printed from: eldritchdark.com/writings/poetry/527
Printed on: March 28, 2024