Page:Anthology of Magazine Verse (1921).djvu/44
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PHAEDRA REBUKES HIPPOLYTA
Swift and a broken rock
clatters across the steep shelf
of the mountain-slope,
clatters across the steep shelf
of the mountain-slope,
sudden and swift,
and breaks as it clatters down
into the hollow breach
of the dried water-course;
far and away
(through fire, I see it,
and smoke of the dead, withered stalks
of the wild cistus-brush)
Hippolyta, frail and wild,
galloping up the slope
between great boulders
and shelves and circles of rock.
and breaks as it clatters down
into the hollow breach
of the dried water-course;
far and away
(through fire, I see it,
and smoke of the dead, withered stalks
of the wild cistus-brush)
Hippolyta, frail and wild,
galloping up the slope
between great boulders
and shelves and circles of rock.
I see it, sharp, this vision,
and each fleck on the horse's flanks
of foam, the bridle and bit,
the silver—the reins,
held fast with perfect art,
the sun, striking athwart
the silver work,
the neck, strained forward, ears alert,
and the head of the girl
flung back and her throat.
and each fleck on the horse's flanks
of foam, the bridle and bit,
the silver—the reins,
held fast with perfect art,
the sun, striking athwart
the silver work,
the neck, strained forward, ears alert,
and the head of the girl
flung back and her throat.
Ah, burn my fire, I ask
out of the smoke-ringed darkness
enclosing the flaming disk
of my vision—
I ask for a voice—an answer
was she chaste?
out of the smoke-ringed darkness
enclosing the flaming disk
of my vision—
I ask for a voice—an answer
was she chaste?
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