VIII

So towards his tent his steps he bent;
Nor marvel if as home he went
His thoughts to her would still recur:—
"—But Amohia! what a glorious creature
In every gesture, every feature!
Such melting brilliant eyes! I swear
page 18 They cast a shadow from whate'er
They rest upon! I do believe they throw
Such shifting circlets of soft light
On what she looks at, as a sunbeam weaves
On the green darkness of the noonday woods,
Through chinks in the transparent leaves!
And then her hair! to see it but unbound!
Such black abundant floods
Of tresses making midnight all around
For those twin stars to shine through while between
In glimpses the fair neck was seen
Just as at night upon those white
And wind heaped hummocks of glimmering sand
Thick flowing sand—so finely sifted
By the gales whereby 'twas drifted—
Soft patches of pale moonlight stand
Beside their sable shadows. Then her teeth!
All things that most of whiteness boast
How dull and dim beside them! The far wreath
Of snow upon those peaks eternal;
The sea-foam creaming round the coast—
The wave-bleached shell upon it tost—
No, none of these—perhaps the kernel
Of a young cocoanut when newly broken
Would best their blue-white purity betoken
But what were graces so inviting
Without the soul—the spirit's charm
That from some well of witchery internal
Comes dancing up, delighted and delighting,
Comes sparkling through them—bright and warm I
How frank and noble is her face!
And what a sunny pride and sweetness lies
In those open brilliant eyes!
page 19 Her voice chimes like a merry bird's—
How winning are her cheerful words!
With what a blithe and stately grace
She drew her glistening flaxen mat,
With chequered border decked,
Into the hollows of her wavy form
And stepped away erect!
A maiden of a million that!"

Strange power of Beauty! in a moment's space
It photographs itself upon the brain,
And though with limnings soft as light, imprints.
Bums in, such deep encaustic tints.
The finest line, the tenderest stain,
No future impress can displace,
No wear and tear of Time efface.