Verse and Reverse (1921)/Topaz

The eyes of cats, huge cats, in the deepest lair
Of the deepest jungle; the eyes of unblinking birds;
The red-brown fox; all roan and russet herds;
An autumn wood flooded with golden glare;
All pebbled brooks; all flasks of amber wine;
Wings of a butterfly, the "Queen of Spain";
The cloth of gold of some great princess' train;
The burnished copper of some secret shrine;
All these lie pictured in a limpid pool
Of glowing bronze, a Rajah's rich bequest,
The gems themselves, lying flat and smooth and cool
In rows upon the honey-colored breast
Of one whose charms the world may never know,
Whose home is in the dim seraglio.