Harmonium (Stevens)/Hibiscus on the Sleeping Shores
Hibiscus on the Sleeping Shores
I say now, Fernando, that on that day The mind roamed as a moth roams, Among the blooms beyond the open sand;
And that whatever noise the motion of the waves Made on the sea-weeds and the covered stones Disturbed not even the most idle ear.
Then it was that that monstered moth Which had lain folded against the blue And the colored purple of the lazy sea,
And which had drowsed along the bony shores, Shut to the blather that the water made, Rose up besprent and sought the flaming red
Dabbled with yellow pollen—red as red As the flag above the old café— And roamed there all the stupid afternoon.