The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-07-13

eager to listen than would have him
know
And viii you excuse any little Wild
ness of gesture or expression that
may see fit to introduce in the rendt-
ton pa
Certainly said /. certainly; go
on
"And you won't interrupt or get ex-
cited? Light another cigar; and here's
a chair to throw your feet across Now,
unbutton your coat and lean back Are
you thoroughly COMFORTABLE
Thoroughly" said I, impatiently-
"a thousand thoroughlies.'
"AH right" he said; I'm glad to
hear You say it; but before proceed
desire to call your attention to the fact
! that this poem is a literary Orphan
founding, you understand"
y understand; so on
And, with manner all too wild 10
be described, he read, or rather recited,
the following monstrosity of rhyme:
II stood beneath summer moon
| All swollen to uncanny Eirth.
And hanging, Ike the sun at noon,
/ Above the center Of the earth;
But with d sad and salloW light
| As il had slckensd of the night
And fallen in 9allid swCon.
| Around me l could hear the rush
OF sulen winds. and feel the whirr
OF unseen wings apast me brush
| Like phantoms round a sepulchre;
/ q %
| lawn unrolIed beneath my feet,
! Bespangled Ger with flowers as sweet
| To look upon as those that nod
| Within the garden fields of God,
But odorless as those that blow
| In ashes in the shades below
| And on my hearing fell a storm
OF gusty music. sadder yet
| Than every whimper OF regret
| That Sobbing utteranee could form.
And patched with scraps of sound that
Torn out of tunes that demons dreamed,
And pitched to such a piercing key,
/ 1t stabbed the ear with agony;
And when at last it lulled and died,
| stood aghast and terrified
! l shuddered and I shut my eyes.
And stiA could see. and feel aware
! Some mystic presence waited there;
And staring, with dazed surprise.
| saw creature so divine
| That never subtle thought of mine
| May reproduce to inner sight
| 80 fair vision of delight
"a syllable of dew that drips
From out a hly's laughing lips
| Could not be sweeter than the word
l listened TO. yet never heard
| For oh, the woman hiding there
Within the shadows IF her hair,
Spake to me in an undertone
So delicate, my soul alone
But understood il as a moan
OF some weak melody of wind
a heavenward breeze had left behind.
Against the sky. behind her seen.
Like shapeless shapes of arabesque
wrought in an Oriental screen;
And tail. auStere and statueSque
| she doomed before it-e'en as though
| The spirit hand of Angelo
lad chiseled her to life complete
with chips or moonshine round her feet.
And I grew jealous of the dusk
To see it softly touch her face,
As lover-ike, with fond embrace,
| 1t folded round her like a husk:
But when the glitter of her hand,
Like wasted glory, beckoned me,
! My eyes grew blurred and dull and dim
| My vision failed-I could not see
1 could not stir-I could but stand,
Til, quiyeFing in every limb.
| flung me prone, though TO swim
J Inc tide OF grass whose waves OF greer
Went rolling ocean-wide between
My helpless shipwrecked heart and hel
| Who claimed me for worshiper.
And Writhing thus in my despair,
heard a weird. unearthiy sound,
That seemed to lift me from the ground
And hold me floating in the air.
, looked, and 10. I saw her bow
Above a harp within her hands;
A crown of blossoms bound her brow,
And on her harp were twisted strands
OF slIken starlight, ripping Ger
! With music never heard before
BY mortal ears; and. at the strain,
, felt my spirit snap its chain
And break away.-and / could see
Il as IT turned and fled from me
To greet its mistress, where she smiled
? To see the phantom dancing wild
And W1Zard-iike before the spell
> Her mystic fingers knew so Wen.'
; sat throughout il all as though un-
der the strange influence Of an eastern
drug My fancy was so wrought upor
only saw the reader rnistily, and
clothed, as il were, in a bedragoped
costume of the Orient Ny mind seemed
idle-steeped in browse and Ianguor
and yet peopied with a thousand sha-
dowy fancies that came trooping from
p, chaotic hiding places, and mingling il
a reyelry Of such riotous extravaganza
It seemed a holiday of elfish thought
I shook my head, I rubbed my eyes
arose bewildered, and sat down again
arose again and walked across the
room, my strange companion folI1wins
every motion with an intensity of gazI
almost mesmeric.
You fail to comprehend it?'' h,
I queried.
I shook my head.
You can almost grasp it, can't your
D Yes" l answered
4 But not quite?''
Not quite"
5 Does it worry you?"
e Yes"
Think it will cling to YOU. and fire
you, vex you, haunt you?"
-; Il know il will"
o it7'' : : my 0'i'i p enc NJ
Il can't say" I replied, thoughtfuIIv
g Perhaps may in time. Will YOU ALLOW