Poems (Piatt)/Volume 2/In a Queen's Domain

by Sarah Piatt

IN A QUEEN'S DOMAIN.

Ah, my subject, the rose, I know,
 Will give me her breath and her blush;
And my subject, the lily, spread snow,
 If I pass, for my foot to crush.

My subjects, the lamb and the fawn,
 They hide their heads in my breast;
And my subject, the dove, coos on,
 Though my hand creep close to her nest.

But my subject, the bee, will sting;
 And my subject, the thorn, will tear;
And my subject, the tiger, will spring
 At me, with a cry and a glare.

And my subject, the lion, will shake
 With his anger my loneliest lands;
And my subject, the snake (ah! the snake!)
 Will strike me dead in the sands!