Hoofs of Pegasus

<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>A PRISONER</h2> <div class="poetry-container"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <span class="i0"><span class="bigfont">A</span> PRISONER am I.</span> <span class="i0">In fivefold gyves and strong</span> <span class="i0">I shall be captive, bound,</span> <span class="i0">My whole life long.</span> <span class="i0">But fettered, I shall make my bonds</span> <span class="i0">Into a shining song.</span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">For if it were not for the chains I bear</span> <span class="i0">I should be unaware</span> <span class="i0">Of the frail splendour of a peacock pacing slow,</span> <span class="i0">Rich, opalescent dyes,</span> <span class="i0">Blue, green, bronze-burnished, lustrous argent eyes—</span> <span class="i0">A fanfarade</span> <span class="i0">Of lapis, azure, emerald and jade—</span> <span class="i0">A glory of spread plumes where shattered rainbows played.</span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">And never should I know</span> <span class="i0">The sound of running water soft and low,</span> <span class="i0">The hushed grey music of a summer rain,</span> <span class="i0">A plain song cadence, beautiful and strange,</span> <span class="i0">Old wistful chants scarred with lost Eden’s pain.</span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Nor should I mark the rough austerity</span> <span class="i0">Of surf, the rude caress of waves that buffet me.</span> <span class="i0">Or find delight</span> <span class="i0">In the cool touch of smoothéd ivory.</span> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</SPAN></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">And always I should lack</span> <span class="i0">The scent of burning leaves, the poignant smack</span> <span class="i0">Of box; or heliotrope in the hot sun;</span> <span class="i0">Primroses opening their pale stars one by one.</span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Then, too, I should forego the savour of fresh bread.</span> <span class="i0">Clear-dripping honey thick with the perfume</span> <span class="i0">Of the red clover bloom.</span> <span class="i0">And never should I cool my parchéd mouth</span> <span class="i0">With luscious apricots, warm, tinctured of the South.</span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">God, when my body must</span> <span class="i0">Return to dust,</span> <span class="i0">O let me be</span> <span class="i0">Not utterly set free</span> <span class="i0">From these my friendly bonds!</span> <span class="i0">O let me use them there, as here, for Thee</span> <span class="i0">With deeper rapture, keener ecstasy.</span></div> </div></div> <hr class="chap" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />