So, vaguely troubled, listlessly he cast

A gaze about him: lo, above his head

The gray-green curtain of his chilly bed

Was broidered thick with plums! Or so it seemed,

For he was half persuaded that he dreamed;

And with a steady stare he strove to keep

That treasure for the other side of sleep.

Returning hunger bade him rise; in vain

He struggled with a fine-spun mesh of pain

That trammelled him, until a yellow stream