The Queen's Song

Joseph and Mary written by James Elroy Flecker

Forty-Two Poems (1911)

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Had I the power
  To Midas given of old
To touch a flower
  And leave the petals gold,
I then might touch thy face,
  Delightful boy,
And leave a metal grace,
  A graven joy.

Thus would I slay -
  Ah, desperate device!
The vital day
  That trembles in thine eyes,
And let the red lips close
  Which sang so well,
And drive away the rose
  To leave a shell.

Then I myself,
  Rising austere and dumb,
On the high shelf
  Of my half-lighted room,
Would place the shining bust
  And wait alone,
Until I was but dust,
  Buried unknown.

Thus in my love
  For nations yet unborn,
I would remove
  From our two lives the morn,
And muse on loveliness
  In mine armchair,
Content should Time confess
  How sweet you were.

This work is in the public domain in countries where the copyright term is the author's life plus 70 years or less.