To Paint a Water LilyA green level of lily leaves
Roofs the pond's chamber and pavesThe flies' furious arena: study
These, the two minds of this lady.First observe the air's dragonfly
That eats meat, that bullets byOr stands in space to take aim;
Others as dangerous comb the humUnder the trees. There are battle-shouts
And death-cries everywhere hereaboutsBut inaudible, so the eyes praise
To see the colours of these fliesRainbow their arcs, spark, or settle
Cooling like beads of molten metalThrough the spectrum. Think what worse
is the pond-bed's matter of course;Prehistoric bedragoned times
Crawl that darkness with Latin names,Have evolved no improvements there,
Jaws for heads, the set stare,Ignorant of age as of hour—
Now paint the long-necked lily-flowerWhich, deep in both worlds, can be still
As a painting, trembling hardly at allThough the dragonfly alight,
Whatever horror nudge her root.
Roofs the pond's chamber and pavesThe flies' furious arena: study
These, the two minds of this lady.First observe the air's dragonfly
That eats meat, that bullets byOr stands in space to take aim;
Others as dangerous comb the humUnder the trees. There are battle-shouts
And death-cries everywhere hereaboutsBut inaudible, so the eyes praise
To see the colours of these fliesRainbow their arcs, spark, or settle
Cooling like beads of molten metalThrough the spectrum. Think what worse
is the pond-bed's matter of course;Prehistoric bedragoned times
Crawl that darkness with Latin names,Have evolved no improvements there,
Jaws for heads, the set stare,Ignorant of age as of hour—
Now paint the long-necked lily-flowerWhich, deep in both worlds, can be still
As a painting, trembling hardly at allThough the dragonfly alight,
Whatever horror nudge her root.
