What's O'Clock/Merely Statement
MERELY STATEMENT
You sent me a sprig of mignonette, Cool-coloured, quiet, and it was wet With green sea-spray, and the salt and the sweet Mingled to a fragrance weary and discreet Asa harp played softly in a great room at sunset.
You said: "My sober mignonette Will brighten your room and you will not forget."
But I have pressed your flower and laid it away In a letter, tied with a ribbon knot. I have not forgot. But there is a passion-flower in my vase Standing above a close-cleared space In the midst of a jumble of papers and books. The passion-flower holds my eyes, And the light-under-light of its blue and purple dyes Is a hot surprise. How then can I keep my looks From the passion-flower leaning sharply over the books? When one has seen The difficult magnificence of a queen On one's table, Is one able To observe any colour in a mignonette? I will not think of sunset, I crave the dawn, With its rose-red light on the wings of a swan, And a queen pacing slowly through the Parthenon, Her dress a stare of purple between pillars of stone.