Esther.

When the news came, and I said, "It is death to go in
to the King,

Yea, what am I to affront him— his creature, his chat-
tel, his thing ?"

Then they replied, with the message that Mordecai laid
on their lips,

"Yea, what art thou to lie safe when thy people shall
perish like ships,

Ships that the storm overpowereth, black with the bur-
den of death,

Scattering their might to the sea to be sucked by its
terrible breath ?

How shall thou answer, O Esther, to God who hath charged
thee with these,

If, when the tempest hath fallen, thou ridest alone on
the seas ?

Get then thy purple upon thee, and spare not the pearls
for thy hair,

No, nor the gold for thy throat, nor the scent of the

sandal-wood spare;
Go to the innermost court, where the great King is
sitting alone
(Over against him the gateway ) aloft on his gold-
pillared throne,
Tell him the evil that Haman hath planned in his
bosom, yea, give
Boldly his name to the King, who hath said 'there shall
none of them live?'"
Then a thought stung me, and straightway I smiled as I
lifted my head.
"Yea, I will go to the King. If I perish I perish,"
I said.

There in the innermost court, that is curtained with
scarlet and gold,
Paven with marble, and bounded by walls where his ser-
vants behold,
Wrought in fair colours, the battles the King in his
prowess hath won,
There on his throne sat the King, as alone and aloft
as the sun;

Yet, as I lifted mine eyes, I beheld in his own my
reprieve,

Saw how he reached me the sceptre that bade me approach him and live

"Even to the half of my kingdom, demand what thou
cravest," he said,

And I, (with that thought in my heart) as my lips on
the sceptre I laid,

Answered, "O King, live forever. Thy handmaid entreats
thee to come,

Thou, and Prince Haman thy servant, tonight to the doors
of her home,

There of the banquet to taste that the hand of thy
slave hath prepared."

"Queen, be it done as thou willest it," gravely the
great King declared.

Then did they bring me the tunic of purple, the pearls
for my hair,

Gold of the isles for my girdle, and spices to sweet-
en the air;

So in my doorway I stood, and awaited the will of my
lord.

With him came Haman the Prince, and they entered and
sat at the board.

Deep drank the King, but that other sat silent and
watched me, and I

Knew that his eyes held my beauty, as pools hold a
fragment of sky,

So I was patient, and waited; and when the King rose
it was light.

"Ask what thou willest," he bade me; and, "come to thy
handmaid tonight,

Thou, and Prince Haman thy servant, to taste of the
wine-cup, "I said;

"So shall it be," swore the King, "by the pearl-woven
hairs of thy head."

Then I made ready again, and awaited the King and his
friend,

But to myself in my soul I said, "coward, tonight it
shall end."

So, when the goblets of gold, with the vine-wreathen bordering, swung

High overhead, like strange fruits on a wind-stricken
orchard-bough hung,

Swaying now this way, now that, in a passionate mid-
summer gale,

When, as I leaned on my pillows, I marked through a
rift of my veil

Hot in the eyes of my master the fumes of the wine-
cup arise,

Like to the dust of a chariot clouding a foot-run-
ner's eyes,

Then from the gold-carven couch at his side I arose
with a spring,

Crying out, "Mercy, O Master," and crying out, "Ven-
geance, O King!

Lo, we are sold to destruction, yea, sold to the edge
of the sword,

I and my people are sold to the hand of our enemies,
lord.

Save us, O mighty to conquer! My voice is the voice

of their prayers;

Lord, if my people must perish, my doom shall be even
as theirs."

Down with a crash the King's goblet fell— forth, like
a torrent of blood,

Red betwixt Haman and me, poured the wine in an omi-
nous flood —

"Give me his name," cried the King, "who hath dared to
make light of my trust;

He that would trample thy people himself shall be
trampled like dust.

Quick, the slave's name!

Like a cry in a nightmare my ut-
terance died —

Then, with stretched arm towards Haman, "behold him,
the traitor," I cried.

Silent they stood— I could hear the hoarse breath
of the two— till at last

Forth through the gates of the garden the King in
the darkness aghast

Fled —

Then I turned, and, "O foe of my people, I said,
"Here on the breast that betrayed thee let fall for
an instant thy head.
Give me, O Haman, thy lips. I will pay thee with kisses for breath,
Yea, I will pay thee with love for the life I have
yielded to death.
Knowest thou now how I love thee ? Behold, when the
messenger came,
Clamouring, Save us, O Queen, from the hate that consumeth like flame,
Thinkst thou I thought of my people ? Nay, stood I not
safe in my place ?
But if at last (was my thought) I might speak with
him, look on his face,
Hold him close-locked to the bosom that thrilled not
to pillow a King,
Well, though he perished thereby, would he curse me for
doing this thing ?"
Nothing he answered, but only I felt by the lips that
he laid

Speechless on mine, that for dying the least of my
kisses had paid.

Then the King entered— his face had grown whiter
than death is with hate —

"What ? Shall this slave, this accursed, lay hands on
my Queen ? Could he wait

Not for one instant my vengeance ? O thou that hast
vanquished him, say,

How shall I deal with the traitor ?"

And smiling I answered him, "Slay."