The coral colour lasted in her veins,
Made her lips rosy like a sea-shell’s rims;
The purple stained her cheeks with splendid stains,
And the pearl’s colour clung upon her limbs.
She took her golden hair between her hands;
The faded gold and amber of the seas
Dropped from it in a shower upon the sands;
The crispéd hair enwrapped her like a fleece;
And through the threads of it the sun lost gold,
And fell all pale upon her throat and breast
With play of lights and tracings manifold:
But the whole heaven shone full upon the rest.
Her curvéd shapes of shoulder and of limb,
Wrought fairly round or dwindling delicate,
Were carven in some substance made to dim
With whiteness all things carven or create.
And every sort of fairness that was yet
In work of man or God was perfected
Upon that work her bosom, where were set
In snows two wondrous jewelries of red.
The sun and sea made haloes of a light
Most soft and glimmering, and wreathed her close
Round all her wondrous shapes, and kept her bright
In a fair mystery of pearl and rose.
The waves fell fawning all about her there
Down to her ancles; then, with kissing sweet,
Slackened and waned away in love and fear
From the bright presence of her new-formed feet.
The green-gray mists were gathering away
In distant hollows underneath the sun
Behind the round sea; and upon that day
The work of all the world-making was done.
The world beheld, and hailed her, form and face;
The ocean spray, the sunlight, the pure blue
Of heaven beheld and wondered at her grace;
And God looked out of heaven and wondered too.
And ere a man could see her with desire,
Himself looked on her so, and loved her first,
And came upon her in a mist, like fire,
And of her beauty quenched his god-like thirst.