Ebony and Crystal/Cleopatra

by Clark Ashton Smith

For works with similar titles, see Cleopatra.

CLEOPATRA

Thy beauty is the warmth and languor and passion of a tropic autumn,Caressing all the senses,—With light from skies of heavy azure,With perfume from hidden orchids many-huedThat burn in the berylline dusk of palms;With the balmy kiss of tropic wind and wave,And the songs of exotic birds that passIn vermilion-flashing flight from isle to isle on a cobalt sea.***O, sweetness in the inmost sense,As of golden fruits that have grown by the waters of Lethe,Or fragrance of purple lilies, crushed by the limbs of lovers,In the shadow of a wood of cypress!***Thou pervadest me with thy love,As the dawn pervadeth a valley among mountains,Or as opaline sunset filleth the amaranth-coloured sea;The desire of thy heart is upon me,As a myrtle-scented wind from the isle of Cythera,Where Aphrodite waits for Adonis,Lying naked among the flag lilies by a pool of chrysolite;I inhale thy loveAs the breath of hidden gardens of purple and scarlet,Where Circe wanders,Clad in a trailing gown whose colours are the gold of flame,And the azure of the skies of autumn.