But never spider yet spun a more delicate wonder

Than that which hung thereunder, drooping fold on fold,

Silks that glowed with fire of tawny Oxus gold,

Richer than ever flowed from the eager fancy of man

In his vain desire for beauty that endures:

And on the floor were spread by many a heaped daiwan

Carpets of Kurdistan, cured skins, and water-ewers

Encrusted with such gems as emperors of Hind

(Swart conquerors, long dead) sought for their diadems.

No other light was there but one torch, flaring