"Her eyes, her eyes," they said to me,
"Are as the color of the sea!"
Color of seas a-swoon with dreams!
I visioned miles of filmy blue--
Pale, land-locked bays in mellow creams
And caves with sunlight filtering through;
Gold-shadowed seas of cloudy white --
Mirages of unguessed delight --
And mirrored skies
Remembered too!
They said her eyes were like the sea!)
I saw within a golden net,
Long lines of lapis-lazuli
Where curling cloud and water met,
A depth of blue such as I know
In crowded beds where larkspurs blow
And lupin-buds
Long-opened. Yet
There came to me still depths of green
That went through every limpid shade
From bronzed moss where rust had been
To almond-green and glowing jade;
And all the emeralds that spread
Above the peacock's tufted head
A dream of pure
Enchantment made!
Sea color! Then, against the rim,
Patches of purple dark like grapes.
I saw, unfathomable, dim,
Beneath a sky all hurrying shapes
Drowned beds of pansies royally dyed,
And broken violets on the tide
Around the points
And little capes.
What color was the sea? I saw
It rippling on with lazy flecks,
Wind-ruffled where the breeze sucked raw,
And opalescent like the necks
Of grey wood-pigeons, Pool on pool
That lapped against sardonyx cool.
And fish that seemed
Just silver specks.
And though her eyes were like the sea
Their color is a mystery!
First published in The Bulletin, 23 August 1923
