Outside the gates of night, above the moon,
Where breatheth none but gods, where light alone
Forever rules from his star-studded throne,
Where Melancholy never reaches noon,
And where the Pleiades their harps attune—
There in the centre of the lightning zone,
Upon the zephyr which the storm hath sown,
Thou first wert formed with pleasure to commune.
And now in Pleasure’s world, upon the face
Of bright and gay Bohemia’s fairest child
The zephyr dallies with the lightning flash;
The smile divine, as well the subtle grace
Are deeply there impressed, by naught defiled—
There joy’s received as well as paid in cash.
Public-domain source text
Thy Smile
by Ameen Rihani
Source record
This is a source transcription from Standard Ebooks, published in Past Poetry’s public-domain archive without line-by-line editorial notes. Public-domain source edition. Availability can vary by territory.
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