Poems (Terry, 1861)/Blue-beard's closet
BLUE-BEARD'S CLOSET.
Fasten the chamber!Hide the red key;Cover the portal,That eyes may not see.Get thee to market,To wedding and prayer;Labor or revel,The chamber is there!
In comes a stranger—"Thy pictures how fine,Titian or Guido,Whose is the sign?"Looks he behind them?Ah! have a care!"Here is a finer."The chamber is there!
Fair spreads the banquet,Rich the array; See the bright torchesMimicking day;When harp and violThrill the soft air,Comes a light whisper:The chamber is there!
Marble and painting,Jasper and gold,Purple from Tyrus,Fold upon fold,Blossoms and jewels,Thy palace prepare:Pale grows the monarch;The chamber is there!
Once it was openAs shore to the sea;White were the turrets,Goodly to see;All through the casementsFlowed the sweet air;Now it is darkness;The chamber is there!
Silence and horrorBrood on the walls; Through every creviceA little voice calls:"Quicken, mad footsteps,On pavement and stair;Look not behind thee,The chamber is there!"
Out of the gateway,Through the wide world,Into the tempestBeaten and hurled,Vain is thy wandering,Sure thy despair,Flying or staying,The chamber is there!