TIGRIS WAY
As we came down the Tigris way we saw the blue-tiled tombs,
We saw the caliph's high white walls, his ladies' latticed rooms;
The sentinel negro, with a knife set in the loin-cloth's fold,
And little boats of reed and skin, the corn, heaped dry and gold.
We saw the caliph's high white walls, his ladies' latticed rooms;
The sentinel negro, with a knife set in the loin-cloth's fold,
And little boats of reed and skin, the corn, heaped dry and gold.
We heard the desert winds, like flutes among the plumy trees,
And ever came an anklet's click to lure us down the breeze.
We heard the hum of the bazaar, where thirsty creepers twine;
We snatched a feast of purple figs, pomegranates red and fine.
And ever came an anklet's click to lure us down the breeze.
We heard the hum of the bazaar, where thirsty creepers twine;
We snatched a feast of purple figs, pomegranates red and fine.
As we came down the Tigris way the moon was clear and high,
It made a heaven of the earth, a desert of the sky,
For it had plucked the golden stars and robbed them of their light,
And filtered it to make the sands of silver minted bright.
It made a heaven of the earth, a desert of the sky,
For it had plucked the golden stars and robbed them of their light,
And filtered it to make the sands of silver minted bright.
As we came down the Tigris way I rode back stealthily,
The moon, like some unpolished pearl sunk in a livid sea,
Was smothered in a shell of cloud; the groves were black beneath—
Only the sound of pulsing feet as regular as breath.
The moon, like some unpolished pearl sunk in a livid sea,
Was smothered in a shell of cloud; the groves were black beneath—
Only the sound of pulsing feet as regular as breath.
