Page:Anthology of Modern Slavonic Literature in Prose and Verse by Paul Selver.djvu/307

 

Of holly here in winter; where across
Their back and on their shoulders they tattoo
The image of an eagle; where the women
Alone rule, and the men are given up
From birth to heavy service till they die.
I gazed upon the realm whose ruler is
Khan of Cathay; and I have sat at meat
With those who feed on men: I was a wave
Amid the surf: the mighty emerald
(Pre-destined for the vizier of Bagdad)
Beneath my tongue I carried through the desert.
For thirty days and nights I came not down
Out of my saddle. I have seen great deserts
Like ruffled raiment billowing afar;
The ocean sleeping underneath the moon
Like a stiff winding-sheet; strange stars ablaze
Beneath strange zones. I visited the realms
Of Prester John, where goodness, virtue and
Righteousness ruled, as in a legend,—yea,
Now meseems almost that I even reached
The wondrous nook of earth, where Alexander
Once lighted on the wilderness of Ind,
And came no farther on his way, because
Of mighty downpours that abated not.
(Perchance upon the faery realm he there
Set foot, or e'en upon the town celestial,
And shrank away in dread, when at the gate
An angel put a skull into his hand,
Saying: "A few more years, and this shall be
Thy portion,—this, and not a tittle more!")