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The 
 
 BLUE- 
 DRAGON 
 
 Ballads 
 
 By 
 Alfred James Fritchey 
 
THE BLUE-DRAGON 
 BALLADS 
 
 By 
 
 ALFRED JAMES FRITCHEY 
 
 Published by 
 
 A. J. FRITCHEY 
 
 523 San Julian Street 
 
 Los Angeles 
 

 Copyright 1922 
 by the 
 Author 
 
 S)CI.A6o4856 
 
 FEB -8 1922 
 
 AV* 
 
THEIR NAMES 
 
 The Girdle of Pearls 7 
 
 The White Hart and the Morning Glory.... 9 
 
 The Blue Bracelet 11 
 
 Youth and the Coral Land. 14 
 
 The Yellow Sash 19 
 
 Theseus and Peregune ...22 
 
 The Bride of the Red Fish .....24 
 
 The Magenta Earring 28 
 
 The Moon-Fish and the Cat .31 
 
 Maid o' the Silken Veils 35 
 
 The Green Comb...... 39 
 
 Tale of the Great Hornbill.... 41 
 
 The Orange Goblet 44 
 
 The Lady of the Humming Birds 47 
 
 The Tourmaline Vase 49 
 
 The Jaguarine 52 
 
 The Golden Purse 53 
 
 The Dwarf and the Canary 59 
 
 The Red Opal 62 
 
 The Goose and the Water Snake..... ,.66 
 
 The Gold Bell 67 
 
Just before the snow, dearie, 
 
 Just before the snow. 
 When the skies are heavy laden, 
 
 And the birds fly low, 
 What is like to take the window 
 
 Arm around you so — 
 Watching for the first flake, dearie, 
 
 Just before the snow? 
 
 Watching for the first of winter 
 
 By a single flake, 
 Watching for the scudding lightness 
 
 Over field and lake; 
 I, Wiho love you how much, dearie, 
 
 Would that I could so 
 Ever keep you as you now are, 
 
 Just before the snow! 
 
 There, I saw the first one, dearie. 
 
 No, my precious, no. 
 Mine was but a feather, yours was 
 
 Surely the first snow; 
 As we sit and watch the fine flakes 
 
 Like life's minutes blow. 
 Let me kiss your sweet lips, dearest, 
 
 Just before the snow. 
 
WHENCE THEY ARE NAMED 
 
 While falleth the snow, 
 
 And darkens the night, 
 While fences white glow 
 
 As the crisp flakes alight. 
 By the Blue Dragon Lamp 
 
 Let us sit us and read; 
 Heedless of the damp 
 
 And the winter's shai^p meed. 
 Let us read of a time 
 
 When the earth was aglow 
 With the fine golden clime 
 
 Of the great long ago. 
 
The Girdle of Pearls 
 
 THE GIRDLE OF PEARLS 
 
 Nydalia, flower of maids 
 
 In Persia of famed report, 
 Was the daughter to one skilled in gold 
 
 And silver, gold-beater at court; 
 Nydalia, flower of maids 
 
 Would take in the even a gTOom, 
 And so in the whitest of tubs 
 
 She was having her bath of perfume. 
 
 She thought on the girdle of pearls 
 
 That her father would make for the 
 queen ; — 
 On the exquisite girdle of pearls 
 
 That he barely had finished that e'en; 
 And she said : "I am wedded but once, 
 
 The queen she will have long delight. 
 And for it I die, still that girdle of pearls 
 
 Must shine on the bride of to-night." 
 
 So when she had drest, she stole forth 
 
 Where she knew that the girdle must be, 
 And took from the girdle its case, 
 
 And danced as she saw it, in glee; 
 Then over her white virgin zone. 
 
 Which chastely her silk gown displays- 
 She strung out the beautiful girdle of pearls 
 
 And lo! she was queen of the fays. 
 
The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 
 
 Nydalia, sweetest of maids, 
 
 Why longest thou fairer to be? 
 For never yet girdle of pearls 
 
 Encircled an one such as she! 
 Nydalia, rarest of maids, 
 
 What wouldst thou, thou hadst not to- 
 night ? 
 For never in regions that cover the earth 
 
 Was seen such a form of delight! 
 
 The bride-maids in wonder stood still, — 
 
 Astonishment told on them all; 
 Then forth to the wedding they went, 
 
 And shone in her father's gTeat hall. 
 Her father amazed doth stand: 
 
 Too late to uncircle that ring; 
 And long did he ponder the whole wedding 
 night 
 
 To think what the morrow might bring. 
 
 So in the hall, smiling was wed 
 
 Nydalia, fairest of brides; 
 Then forth to the rich garden, but 
 
 Who knows what a garden oft hides? 
 For out of the darkness, two arms 
 
 Encircled and bore her away; 
 And Nydalia, fairest of brides 
 
 Is gone for a life and a day. 
 
The White Hart and the Mo^-ning Glory 9 
 
 Some said that it was the queen's spies; 
 
 Some said 'twas the Forty Thieves surely ; 
 And some, of incredulous knd, 
 
 Said the tale was imagined all purely; 
 But there was the father to grieve; 
 
 And there was the queen left to fret; 
 For never such pearls have been seen 
 
 In Persia or anywhere yet. 
 
 Ah, where is the girdle of pearls, 
 
 With pendants so daintily white, 
 That girded the zone of a maid 
 
 With lustre so peerless and bright? 
 Ah, where is the girdle of pearls? 
 
 But where is Nydalia, pray? 
 Ah' no one could answer in Persia's court 
 then, 
 
 And who now can answer today? 
 
 The White Hart and the Morning Glory 
 
 Leaping up a mountain side 
 
 Went a Hai"t — a snow-white Hart, too, 
 From the hounds and Master Hound, 
 
 To escape the chase's smart, too. 
 Then a Morning Glory fair 
 
 With a maiden's art not new t' her. 
 
10 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 
 
 Twined around him panting found, 
 And safe bound this noble suitor. 
 
 But the Hunter who was rich 
 
 When he saw the Morning Glory 
 Twined like a noble Hart, 
 
 For his palace wanted sore he; 
 And when he had homeward gone, 
 
 Told his Gardener the story, 
 Whom he hither sent to bring 
 
 Home the harted Morning Glory. 
 
 But the Hart — this snow-white Hart, too — 
 From his silken, clinging tether, 
 
 When had gone the hounds and master. 
 Broke, and sought his mountain heather. 
 
 And when came the Gardener 
 
 Where these two had been together, 
 
 Broken was the Morning Glory, 
 
 Torn and twisted was Love's tether. 
 
 When the Gardener saw whom 
 
 The Morning Glory lost her heart to, 
 Home he bore her, root and bloom, 
 
 And he played a gardener's part, too: 
 For within a form he chose 
 
 Like a hart as e'er could Art do, 
 Still the Morning Glory shows 
 
 Every night where goes her heart to. 
 
The Blue Bracelet 11 
 
 THE BLUE BRACELET 
 
 There dwelt upon the Libyan shore 
 
 A maiden of Arabian birth; 
 A water-maid she was, no more, 
 
 And yet such beauty as the Earth 
 Has seldom seen to wonder o'er. 
 
 And on her arms full bare and white, 
 More lovely by a plain robe, too, 
 
 Two arm-bands claspt her pink flesh tight; 
 Two bracelets of enameled blue, — 
 
 Did make a figure of delight. 
 
 Tho' she had suitors high and rich 
 
 And damask bowers beckt this maid, 
 
 Was offered courtly jewels, which 
 
 Had turned a Queen if Flattery paid. 
 
 She loved a Youth that filled the niche 
 Of Brasier, one divinely made. 
 
 And they had planned to Babylon 
 Would hither go, this very night; 
 
 Where he the King's forge-gear would don, 
 And weld his spears and armour bright: 
 
 Of course 'twas Fancy worked upon. 
 
 But who could say what happen might? 
 
12 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 
 
 Then as she came to meet, forsooth, 
 This night beside the water-well, 
 
 Her future lord — that charming youth — 
 Why who break forth and on her fell, 
 
 But pirates who bound her, in truth. 
 
 And bore her to their light trireme; 
 
 For by that shore they lingered bold, 
 To seize the maidens they would deem 
 
 The richest prize when Grecian sold: 
 Ah, cruel, cruel was her dream! 
 
 But, as she struggled on the sand, 
 A bracelet left her rounded arai. 
 
 And when the maid was far from land 
 
 And came that Youth, who thought that 
 harm 
 
 Befel, he found that shining band. 
 
 Then when he learned what was her fate, 
 He did not rage, nor tear, nor cry; 
 
 His was a mind that men call great. 
 
 He went and gathered clansmen nigh. 
 
 And started for Bosphorus' gate. 
 
 And in the Grecian mountains, he 
 
 And all his band robbed far and near; 
 
The Blue Bracelet 13 
 
 Till he was known full famously, 
 
 And his became a name to fear, — 
 Such booty and such maids seized he. 
 
 But one day when his band returned. 
 
 They brought a maid whose loosened hair 
 
 In lovely rings their ardours spurned; 
 For in her eyes shone such despair 
 
 As if a sorrow soul-deep burned. 
 
 Then when they brought her to their Chief, 
 He asked her sorrow, naught she spoke: 
 
 "Ho! we shall fathom out your grief, 
 
 Tear from her waist, her plum-fringed 
 cloak." 
 
 How robbers wound beyond belief! 
 
 They tore, and lo ! a bracelet blue 
 Was shining on her lovely arm; 
 
 It was that water-maiden, too. 
 
 And he would do his own love harm : 
 
 Who wrong shall Heaven the same wrong do. 
 
 And then he wept hot burning tears — 
 His first — and kist that shining band: 
 
 And so, he, after many years. 
 
 Led her back to his native land ; 
 
 And made Love sweet arrears. 
 
14 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 
 
 YOUTH AND THE CORAL LAND 
 
 Whence come the Coral children nigh, 
 Bearing that laughing boy along, 
 
 Swimming the scudding drifts that fly 
 Foamy as wine of Bacchus' song? 
 
 Whither the breast that nursed that lad? 
 
 'Twas of the Earth, not of the Sea. 
 Whither the heart that now is sad 
 
 'Cause of the Coral sprites that flee? 
 
 Dark are his locks and beaded black 
 His eyes, that laugh in childish glee; 
 
 But those eyes so bright shall bring delight 
 No more to the shores of Sicily. 
 
 Stolen away by the Coral maids 
 
 That live beneath the purple foam: 
 
 Long days that shore, they waited for 
 
 The sunburat lad for their Coral home. 
 
 Ah, lucky lad, they'll love you well 
 
 With warm embrace and kisses prest! 
 
 But your sparkling eye in vain shall sigh 
 For your mother's dear Sicilian breast. 
 
Youth and the Coral Land 15 
 
 Downward they dove thro' the crystal wave, 
 Downward, a hundred fathoms deep; 
 
 And the dark lad's head seemed like one dead 
 Ere the rosy Coral mansions peep. 
 
 Then herbs of mystic perfume, brewed 
 
 In goblets of pale emerald, 
 The lad they gave, and soon a wave 
 
 Of vermeil hue, his visage held. 
 
 Behold the Queen of the Coral land 
 
 On crocodile encased throne! 
 And on her hair, a bright tiar' 
 
 Of rosy tourmalines there shone. 
 
 And a radiance of pearly hue. 
 Ethereal as a bride might be, 
 
 Came from the queen when she had seen 
 The lad from the shores of Sicily. 
 
 Then they banqueted from viands rich; 
 
 From paly gems sipped liquid dew. 
 And strange fruits red, the lad they fed 
 
 That he might be a sea-ling, too. 
 
 Oh! violet tinted the days spent there 
 
 With the rosy Coral maids! 
 For nuts and flowers pleasured long hours 
 
 In the depths of the ocean glades. 
 
16 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 
 
 Or sometimes they took a trip upon 
 
 A dolphin redly finned, 
 And gamboled acrost great treasures lost 
 
 From Carthage, Tyre and Ind. 
 
 Of gold encrusted pyramids 
 
 And jewels that muffled shine — 
 
 Pining away for the light of day 
 
 And the glare of the Orient's wine. 
 
 Now the nut-brown lad became a youth: 
 Ah, the Coral Queen did sigh! 
 
 And blushes red hid her lovely head 
 When the Youth of Earth was nigh. 
 
 And if thro' a gi'ove of ocean firs 
 
 With carmine pointed sheen. 
 Was the Youth alone, there always shone 
 
 The glow of the Coral Queen. 
 
 But the lone lad pined for his earthly kind, 
 With red love passioned deep; 
 
 Not ethereally like the crested sea. 
 That the Coral maidens keep. 
 
 So he stole away at the peep of a day. 
 And mounted the purple foam; 
 
 And glad was the sight in the amber light 
 Of his dear Sicilian home. 
 
Youth and the Coral Land 17 
 
 Then kisses hot they gave so dear 
 
 To the lad who slept in a Coral iim, 
 
 And all his kith seemed pleasured with 
 The dark Sicilian's youth's return. 
 
 Who is the lass with lips apout, 
 
 And eyes like Caverns of the Night, 
 
 Whose cheek doth blush with a rosy flush 
 As the Coral lad bursts on her sight? 
 
 That is the maid from yon star's soft burn 
 Whence essence sthat conquer death 
 
 Come: and from the same Amethyst urn 
 That lad and lassie each drew breath. 
 
 Out where the Stars' pavilion gleamed 
 A million studded o'er and o'er, 
 
 Out where the spicy zephyrs dreamed, 
 They walked on the Sicilian shore. 
 
 But the Coral Queen 'neath the purple foam, 
 No more love's blushes make her glad ; 
 
 With all her band she left her land 
 To search for the dark Sicilian lad. 
 
 Yonder they walk by the gurgling shore. 
 
 O lad and lassie, hold each tight! 
 Else your love-mixt hearts shall taste no 
 more 
 
 Of joy for the Coral Sovran's spite. 
 
18 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 
 
 For the love of the maid hath killed the spell 
 Of dwelling 'neath the purple foam; 
 
 And the iris spray might chase away 
 
 The bloom you had in your Coral home. 
 
 Oh! a tidal wave swept o'er the two, 
 Still clinging- to each other's breast, 
 
 And there they lay all cold and gray 
 
 Where the gulls went circling in the west. 
 
 And oft when the evening stars are lit, 
 
 And lovers wander off alone, 
 A moaning fades from the Coral maids, 
 
 And a sad song comes from the Coral 
 Throne. 
 
The Yellow Sash 19 
 
 THE YELLOW SASH 
 
 When Rome sat on her seven hills, 
 
 And ruled thei world, did wander where 
 
 Iberia sends her mountain rills, 
 A goat-herd lad and sister there; 
 Both dark-eyed and most fair. 
 
 And on their birthday once the maid 
 A silken sash did give the lad, 
 
 Of yellow, red and blue displayed. 
 So beautiful it seemed it had 
 Been made some Shah to clad. 
 
 Then came the Romans, and these two 
 Were torn apart; the lad became 
 
 A gladiator that doth do 
 
 With sword or spear the deeds of fame 
 Which Romans hailed in Honor's name. 
 
 The sister went by right of sword 
 
 Unto a noble lady, near 
 To courtly favor; for her lord, 
 
 To tell the truth, he doth appear 
 
 The Emperor's right-ear. 
 
 And so five years were parted two, — 
 Twin-brother and twin-sister, — when 
 
 One day he caught in passing view 
 That gentle maid of mountain glen, 
 And much he grieved then. 
 
20 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 
 
 So would he wear his sister's gift, 
 That sash of yellow, red and blue. 
 
 When next the myriads thither drift 
 To hiss or hail a hero new; — 
 For many died to make a few. 
 
 And when the thousand faces swim 
 And he doth parry the foe's dart. 
 
 Perhaps the maid might gaze on him 
 And breathe a pray'r into his heart; 
 And find her by such art. 
 
 The next day was the fatal game 
 When in the wide arena all. 
 
 The Romans, flocking, hither came, 
 To see a champion rise or fall: — 
 "The Sports" they this did call. 
 
 And now the amphitheatre 
 
 Is crowded, and Imperial 
 The last arrivals cause a stir. 
 
 The heralds for the first lists call. 
 
 A hush is over all. 
 
 When came a Youth, round whom was wound 
 A sash whose varied colors fly; 
 
 And merriment went round and round: 
 That one who soon might bleeding lie 
 Such holiday should tie. 
 
The Yellow Sash 21 
 
 Then came the combat, fierce and long; 
 
 And lo ! The Youth did fight full well ; 
 But Rome's fierce champion was too strong, 
 
 And the young stalwart bleeding fell: — 
 
 'Twas as all did fortell. 
 
 When as they clamored for that Youth 
 To death, that made such holiday, 
 
 A maiden in the royal booth 
 
 Did weep and fall in such dismay, 
 The Emperor would stay. 
 
 Then when he sought the reason why. 
 She told the story of the sash ; 
 
 It was her brother she did cry; 
 
 And how she wept that he should dash 
 Into such combat rash. 
 
 Thus was her own twin-brother spared, 
 
 And given to a sister's care; 
 And after many days they shared 
 
 Again the sweet Iberian air, 
 Far from the Roman glare. 
 
 How after many days, the charm 
 
 That tells of a loved one, will bring 
 
 The flowing tears so fresh and warm. 
 That all our happiness will wing; 
 So doth Love cling! 
 
22 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 
 
 THESEUS AND PEREGUNE 
 
 Young Theseus the valiant to Athens is sped, 
 
 And out from yon wood where the phlox 
 
 rears a hurdle, 
 
 He spies robber Sinnis a-awaiting his head. 
 
 The masks of his victims a-strung to his 
 
 girdle. 
 
 Be careful young Theseus, or you will be 
 
 A food for the ravens on yon sapling tree; 
 
 For the pleasure of Sinnis has ever been 
 found 
 
 Dismembering men by a young tree's re- 
 bound. 
 
 But Theseus is agile and Theseus is strong. 
 And alas, for the fate Sinnis could not 
 see grappling. 
 The combat was hardly a few minutes long 
 Ere Sinnis was bound to his favorite sap- 
 ling. 
 
 Now Peregune, daughter of Sinnis, away! — 
 To the slender asparagus reedlings that 
 sway; 
 
TheseiLS and Peregune 23 
 
 fairer and frailer and sweeter art thou 
 Than the wildest, wild bloosom that hideth 
 thy brow! 
 
 Then Peregune prayed to the reedlings to 
 hide her, 
 And promised if no haiTn from Theseus 
 came, 
 Wherever she roamed, all her kinship beside 
 her 
 Should honor asparagus for her good 
 name. 
 
 While Theseus calling to Peregune, said: 
 "Come hither, Peregune! hither to wed." 
 But Peregune's heart went a-bursting in 
 
 pain. 
 And a glorious red poppy sprang up on 
 
 the plain. 
 
 And Theseus went to i$^geus' halls fair, 
 Where lazuli-latticed lamps made the 
 night, noon; 
 And tho' he was welcomed as son and as heir. 
 Ah ! often he mourns still for sweet Pere- 
 gune. 
 
24 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 
 
 THE BRIDE OF THE RED FISH 
 
 I am a Diver 'neath the sea 
 
 And I search for treasure lost; 
 
 In nook and cave of the pui*ple wave 
 I scour each ahen coast. 
 
 One summer e'en in the blue ^gean, 
 Down where marine pits yawn, 
 
 Two fishes red swam near my head 
 Just as my breath was gone. 
 
 Just as the Sea went swooning in 
 
 A rain of mossy hail, — 
 And one of the Fish said : " 'Tis my wish 
 
 That man may hear our tale." 
 
 Then in the green of the dark marine 
 
 Was I in a pearl white net; 
 And thus he told — the red Fish old — 
 
 His tale in that swooning wet: 
 
 "Lo! Tyre rears her jeweled head 
 
 Where Beauty sees her robes soft spun; 
 
 An opal set in the silvered fret 
 
 Of froth that greets the Orient sun. 
 
The Bride of the Red Fish 25 
 
 "There a gallant galley, snowy plumed, 
 
 Lay on the coral strand, 
 With silk tents nigh her, for the Princess of 
 Tyre 
 
 Was bride to a foreign land. 
 
 "As the galley's master, young and strong, — 
 Came I from the Grecian foam; 
 
 For a Greek Prince fair had sent me there 
 To carry his Princess home. 
 
 "O'er the agate stones came joyous tones 
 
 Of hail) and flute so sweet, 
 And maids a-glow, pink petals strow, 
 
 To caipet the Princess' feet. 
 
 "A dozen virgins in a row 
 
 With fragile jars of rare perfumes. 
 In silken showers of different flowers 
 
 And faint with Araby's rich blooms, 
 
 "Precede the Princess faery form 
 
 In white where linger blue-bells, fair. 
 
 While a lone sapphire made the Heiress of 
 Tyre 
 The loveliest of the virgins there. 
 
26 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 
 
 "When hither she drew, full well I knew 
 That she was my Princess, all; 
 
 Tho' I sought her hand for the Prince of our 
 land, 
 My heart found a silken thrall. 
 
 "Oh, was there ever such a sail 
 O'er a wave that gentler rolled? 
 
 For Astarte's horn rose silver-born 
 As my Grecian tales I told: 
 
 "All of the lovely tales I knew. 
 Of Dian', Helen, Psyche's grove, 
 
 And he that was wont o'er the Hellespont 
 To swim for Hero's love. 
 
 "Ah! sometimes I thought there came a 
 blush. 
 
 Of pink when I drew nigh, 
 And once I saw a Cupid rush 
 
 Away from her maiden sigh. 
 
 "But a storm came up — a raging storm — 
 As we thought our journey o'er. 
 
 And there was the onyx silvered form 
 Of the mount of my native shore. 
 
The Bride of the Red Fish 27 
 
 "Splintered apart the timbers crack; 
 
 I caught the Princess' hand; 
 And tho' the billows buffet back, 
 
 At last we reach the land. 
 
 "Clinging unto each others arms, 
 That night she was mine, I ween; 
 
 But the Prince came down with the morn- 
 ing's frown, 
 And I had his Tyrean queen. 
 
 "They brought a scarf of silken strand. 
 And bound us breast to breast, 
 
 And threw us from yon jagged land 
 Out on the purple crest. 
 
 "And now we are fishes red, and swim 
 In the Emerald realm so bright," 
 
 But I hear a voice, — and a shadow dim; 
 And I'm back in the clear day light. 
 
28 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 
 
 THE MAGENTA EARRING 
 
 In rough uncultured Sparta, when 
 
 Lycurgus ruled, as all aver, 
 Where at the banquet-board the men. 
 
 And at another wOmen were, 
 And all were equal then, 
 
 There was a youth Stenopodas, 
 That loved a maiden, who alone 
 
 Had eyes for him: he saw her pass 
 When in the sacred dance she was; 
 
 Ah! perfect virgin zone! 
 
 This youth had brought from some far war, 
 
 A fine magneta earring pair, 
 To give when unobserved; for 
 
 Love was not practised open there, 
 But was of stealth, they bore. 
 
 Now had he pierced, when in a wood, 
 Her ears, while with a Spartan heart 
 
 She saw the drops of blood that should 
 Down trickle. Then when healed the 
 
 smart, 
 They oft came here, — to part. 
 
The Magenta Earring 29 
 
 Now one day in a combat, he 
 
 Did mortal wound a fellow Greek; 
 
 And from his country did he flee, 
 
 Because of veng-eance they might wreak; 
 The Persian court to seek. 
 
 So by his prowess and brave deed. 
 
 He rose until a satrapy 
 Was his ; and on a fiery steed 
 
 He rode in state, and ever he 
 
 Did have rich company. 
 
 There in that Eastern pomp, that maid 
 He did forget: for orient eyes 
 
 That sparkle down a Cashmere glade. 
 Can ween the fiercest hearts that rise 
 Away from Grecian prize. 
 
 But on her Spartan hills did she 
 Oft mourn that false Stenopodas; 
 
 And pondered how, that secretly 
 
 She might remind him of what was, 
 
 And what should be, alas! 
 
 So took she there some cherries red. 
 That she had cooked ; and in the glass, 
 
 Which a magenta lustre shed, 
 
 She put an earring, which like was 
 
 Unto those cherries red, 
 
30 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 
 
 And sent unto that satrap; who 
 
 When he beheld that peerless fruit 
 
 Fresh from his native country, too, — 
 
 And signed "A Lover's Gift," to boot, — 
 
 He called a page he knew. 
 
 Who poured it in a golden plate; 
 
 And when the fruit had tasted been, 
 To see if fit for meal of state, 
 
 And when the fruit was fitted seen. 
 He g-ave a banquet great. 
 
 Then one of them the earring found. 
 And showed unto that satrap, who 
 
 Was home again on Grecian ground. 
 Beside that Spartan maiden, too: 
 
 How Love his heart did wound! 
 
 So sent he messengers to find 
 
 If there was vengeance 'gainst him still; 
 And when they brought him tidings kind, 
 
 That no one bore him any ill, 
 
 To Sparta doth he will. 
 
 But when the maiden saw his dress. 
 And all his rich and costly suite, 
 
 She did lament in sharp distress 
 
 Her lover's death, in anguish meet; 
 
 Such pretense did she press. 
 
The Moon-Fish and the Cat 31 
 
 Till when he saw he could not win 
 
 Her with his Oriental show, 
 He put on Spartan g-own, and in 
 
 That simple robe did end her woe, 
 
 Her lover she did know. 
 
 So that magenta earring came 
 
 Unto a lover tho' untrue. 
 And wrought in him a sense of shame, 
 
 That he a wrong- would fain undo: 
 
 So endeth this tale true. 
 
 THE MOON-FISH AND THE CAT 
 
 When the Calif Hab Al Rah-zur 
 
 Ruled in every wish 
 Bagdad, came one day a Fisher 
 
 With a wondrous fish. 
 
 Like unto a silver sliver , 
 
 Never was there known 
 In the realm of Hab Al Rah-zur 
 
 Such rare beauty shown. 
 
32 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 
 
 So the Calif gave the Fisher 
 
 Pieces ten of gold, 
 For the fragile fish of silver, — 
 
 Twas a Moon-fish told. 
 
 Then he placed it in a basin 
 
 Carven from a gem; 
 Where the fountains spray their perfume 
 
 Over veil and hem, 
 
 Of the harem's choicest beauties, — 
 
 Hab Al Rah-zur's all: — 
 But there was not gem upon them 
 
 Like that silver ball. 
 
 And they all came to admire 
 
 Hab Al Rah-zur's wonder; 
 Which must surely from the Moon 
 
 Have come to Earth under. 
 
 Moon-fish swimming in such crystal, 
 
 How they crowded there! 
 How the perfumed waters trembled 
 
 At a form so fair! 
 
 But when night came down and slumber 
 
 Kist with sweetest dreams, 
 Lo ! the fragile Moon-fish vanisht 
 
 With its silver beams. 
 
The Moon-Fish and the Cat 33 
 
 And the Calif's heart was heavy, 
 
 Grief the Calif had; 
 Franticly they searched the palace, 
 
 Franticly Bagdad. 
 
 Then within the Vizier's mansion, 
 
 In an agate bowl. 
 There they found the Moon-fish swimming: 
 
 Evidence, he stole. 
 
 So they chained him in a prison. 
 
 And returned the fish 
 To the Calif's splendid garden, 
 
 By the Calif's wish. 
 
 But when night came, and the Moon-fish 
 
 Like the night before, 
 Vanisht, and was found a-swimming 
 
 In the Vizier's door. 
 
 When that worthy lay in prison, 
 
 "Lo!" the Calif said: 
 "I will find who does this thieving. 
 
 And will have his head." 
 
 So he placed a sabered eunuch 
 
 Every entrance facin'; 
 Turbaned sentry paced each hour 
 
 Round the fish's basin. 
 
34 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 
 
 But the Moon-fish still as quickly 
 
 Vanisht when night came; 
 And within the Vizier's mansion 
 
 Was again the same. 
 
 So the Calif watcht and found out 
 
 That a wondrous cat, 
 Oh, a Persian, tortoise-colored, 
 
 And long haired at that, 
 
 Came, and in his mouth the Moon-fish 
 
 Bore with wagging tail, 
 To his master's house, — the Vizier's, — 
 
 Whom they freed from jail. 
 
 That he might narrate the story 
 
 By Mahomet's hilt; 
 And retrace how evidence 
 
 Is not a proof of guilt. 
 
 "Know, O Calif," said the Vizier, 
 
 "Tho' 'tis strange to tell, 
 That a Fisher past my mansion 
 
 With a cat to sell. 
 
 "Told me that he had a Moon-fish 
 
 And this cat for pets: 
 Such a friendship for each other 
 
 Had they, that one frets 
 
Maid o' the Silken Veils 35 
 
 "When the other is a-distant; 
 
 Till the Fisher's heart 
 Would have rent, since went the Moon-fish, 
 
 If the cat not part. 
 
 "So I bought him, all unknowing 
 
 That yourself had bought 
 This fair Moon-fish from the Fisher 
 
 Who such end had thought? 
 
 "Then accept my cat, Calif!" 
 
 Such is friendship, that 
 In the Faithful's garden Moon-fish 
 
 Kisses nose with cat. 
 
 MAID O' THE SILKEN VEILS 
 
 Rootlets I dig, of the twisted twig, 
 A charmed drink to compound; 
 
 Rootlets I need, 'neath the tangled reed, 
 To heal my heart's sharp wound: 
 
 A wound that came from a maiden's love, 
 
 Oh, 'twas no mortal quest! 
 For her hair was a maze of the sunset's 
 blaze 
 
 When his glory dies in the west! 
 
36 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 
 
 And her step was light as a swallow's flight 
 O'er the flowered cactus burs, 
 
 And her brow was white as the chastened 
 light 
 When the snow-moon kist the flrs. 
 
 Oh! she lived in a pine-tree forest deep 
 In the w^oodland's tangled glade; 
 
 And a cabin, green in its mossy sheen, 
 Was the home of this mountain maid. 
 
 And thither one day I made my way 
 
 For love of this naiad lass; 
 But never a trace caught I of her face. 
 
 In the hut, or the peony pass. 
 
 Deep in the glade I want, afraid 
 Lest harm the maid had found. 
 
 When I met a sight that turned me white, 
 And held me silence-bound. 
 
 For there she stood and a leopard crouched 
 
 To fell her to the sward. 
 When a silken veil, o'er head and tail. 
 
 She cast o'er the crouching pard. 
 
 And when she drew that veil away, 
 
 'Twas spotted like the beast; 
 And the pard around, with tail a-ground, 
 
 Went whining from the feast. 
 
Maid o' the Silken Veils 37 
 
 Then o'er the hmp pine needles, she 
 
 Went to a fox's lair, 
 So behind a tree I hid, to see 
 
 What did the maiden there. 
 
 Over the fox, as he came home. 
 
 She cast another veil; 
 Tho' tricks he tried, he could not hide, 
 
 For she covered head and tail. 
 
 And as she drew, the keen fox knew 
 His tricks she from his cleft; 
 
 And to his hole he sadly stole, 
 On the veil his craft was left. 
 
 Then 'neath the tang-led reedy-marsh, — 
 
 A carmine snake that hid, — 
 She cast a veil o'er the shining scale 
 
 Of the circled pyramid. 
 
 And all his venom in the veil 
 
 She drew, like drops that bleed. 
 
 And he wi'iggled away, like a stunned binite 
 may, 
 Into the pipy reed. 
 
38 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 
 
 Then I heard a mountain Hon cry, 
 
 That bounded to her side; 
 To his curdling wail, she cast a veil 
 
 Over his tawny hide. 
 
 And the lion slinks like one ashamed 
 Of self, when weak and blind; 
 
 But the maiden laug-ht as her nostrils quaft 
 The drink of the piny wind. 
 
 So, too, a dove upon a bush 
 She covered "wath a veil. 
 And his gentle coo she from him drew 
 In a sheen a-pearled pale. 
 
 But I turned my head and away I fled, 
 
 Away from that mystic dell; 
 For I was afraid of the veils o' the maid, 
 
 And who could their meaning tell? 
 
 For maybe some day when I wooed a dove, 
 
 A snake or a leopard fang 
 Might sting my breast, tho' silken drest 
 
 Was the mouth that gave the pang. 
 
The Green Comb 39 
 
 THE GREEN COMB 
 
 When Pyrrhus levied War's hot stir 
 
 About the Tarentines, and in 
 The city saw there many were 
 
 Of comely damsels, he did spin 
 His Epirots' regard to win. 
 
 For then he had a company 
 
 Of bravest men, that lacked wives there, 
 And so of g"olden trinkets, he, 
 
 Of bracelets, eaiTings, all that be 
 Full suitable in half to tear, 
 
 Did take; and gave to Tarent maids 
 The one half, to his men that swarm, 
 
 The other; then the to'WTi invades. 
 And gave he orders that the maids 
 
 Should wed who held half of her chanii. 
 
 Here was a maid, one Cleona, 
 
 W^ho loved a Tarent youth full well; 
 Half of the charm that came her way 
 
 Was a green comb of amber; shell 
 Too it had, golden, fretted gay. 
 
40 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 
 
 Now when she saw the Epirot 
 
 That she would win, a huge, stern man, 
 And old, she on his legs did note 
 
 The battle-scars; and so did plan 
 That she might soon outwit this man. 
 
 And so she taunted him and said : 
 
 "Behold you come like one that bears 
 
 A foot in Styx ; whom I would wed, 
 Is wiho in foot-race that he shares 
 
 With me, must be the one that led." 
 
 So said Cleona, for she knew 
 
 She was the fleetest Tarent maid; 
 
 For like to Hermes' feet she flew 
 Nor was the Epirot afraid 
 
 To match his fleetness with the maid. 
 
 But first from Pyrrhus gained she 
 His assent, that if she should win, 
 
 She got that pale-green comb, and free 
 To wed her favored one; or in 
 
 A maidenhood fore'er to be. 
 
 Thus was the race then run and lost 
 
 Unto that Epirot, for lo! 
 Cleona like a swallow crost 
 
 The line, a furlong more or so. 
 Ere her aged rival's form did show. 
 
Tale of the Great Hm-nhill 41 
 
 Then did Cleona wed her youth; 
 
 And many children, kind and sweet 
 She had, who bore that comb as truth 
 
 Unto their children, how she meet 
 And outwit Pyrrhus by her feet. 
 
 So in the generations sped, 
 
 The women that would marry none 
 They love not, since upon their head, 
 
 To show that they have will to wed. 
 Have worn the comb Cleona won. 
 
 TALE OF THE GREAT HORNBILL 
 
 A bird of rare plumage, jet-black and pure 
 
 white. 
 With gi'eat bill of yellow, red-spotted, iii 
 
 height 
 Full five feet, grotesque as the pterodactyl, 
 Is the bird of my story, the giant Hombill. 
 
 A pair of them lived in a garden, where 
 
 shone 
 The fairest of lotus-buds, Earth has e'er 
 
 known ; 
 
42 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 
 
 Near a rajah's grand palace, and oft by 
 
 the water 
 By day and by night came the rajah's fine 
 
 daughter. 
 
 So dark yet so tender, the eyes of the maid 
 Were, that the great Hornbills were never 
 
 afraid. 
 As if had a Lotus unfolded an Elf; 
 But all lovers she fled, like own Modesty's 
 
 self. 
 
 But one suitor, bolder than any she met. 
 To win that dark maiden, his heart's hope 
 
 had set; 
 But tho' in the palace, he oft was a guest. 
 She fled him the same as she fled all the 
 
 rest. 
 
 So he tied to the leg of the Hombill a note 
 
 One night, and within, how he loved her 
 he wrote; 
 
 And when with the Morning, the maiden 
 did see. 
 
 Her heart danceth light and she sang mer- 
 rily. 
 
Tale of the Great Hornbill 43 
 
 Then unto the Hornbill, she tied a love- 
 letter 
 
 That said: "Who would win me than you 
 must be better; 
 
 For I walk every night by the light of the 
 moon, 
 
 And a lover that loves me would catch me 
 full soon. 
 
 But she tied the note on to the Lady Horn- 
 bill, 
 
 And the Hornbills were then in a honey- 
 moon's thrill. 
 
 And the Lady went nesting in hollow tree 
 by, 
 
 And Hornbill did plaster her in snug and 
 dry. 
 
 And when came the Lover and no note he 
 scans. 
 
 He went to the war with the mountainous 
 clans ; 
 
 But he never forgot in the deepest of slaugh- 
 ter 
 
 The splendid dark eyes of the rajah's fine 
 daughter. 
 
44 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 
 
 Now when he returned from the war, why 
 the brood 
 
 Of the Hornbills into the bright world did 
 intrude, 
 
 And there on the Lady bird was his love- 
 letter ; 
 
 He read — and he went to the palace to get 
 her. 
 
 But the rmaiden has fled to a Vale of a Star, 
 And never was seen again, near or afar: 
 And when comes the Spring oft they say 
 
 with a wink, 
 "The Hornbills have got a love-letter, I 
 
 think." 
 
 THE ORANGE GOBLET 
 On one of the Ionian Isles, 
 
 When Croesus the last Lydian 
 Held sceptre o'er, amid the piles 
 
 Of rock and shore, there dwelt a man, 
 
 A diver and a Carian. 
 
 And one day 'neath the ocean deep, 
 In that strange floating solitude 
 
 Where olden barges richly sleep. 
 He found a golbet, orange-hued, 
 
 Full fragile ,fine and steep. 
 
The Orange Goblet 45 
 
 Now were his daughter and his mate 
 Both captive to some pirates bold; 
 
 And he that goblet would donate 
 Unto the king, this Croesus old, 
 
 To free them from such fate. 
 
 Then as he journeyed hither, he 
 
 Did combat with a deadly snake; 
 
 And in its mouth he speedily 
 
 Did thrust that goblet; then did break 
 
 Its head with stone. Beautifully 
 
 Ran the snake's skin, a pride on him : 
 But on that orange goblet clear, 
 
 Unnoticed at the fragle brim, 
 A drop of venom doth appear; 
 Carian, have fear! 
 
 But w^ater could not cleanse the smart 
 That lurkt within the goblet's side. 
 
 Although he rinsed it well; the art 
 Of poison oft doth long abide. 
 Much in a drop may hide. 
 
 Then when he found the palace door 
 The Lord High Chamberlain did seek 
 
 His end ; and then he told it o'er. 
 
 And showed that goblet like a streak 
 
 Of orange light. The high Lord bore 
 
46 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 
 
 A yearning that he might donate 
 
 That goblet to his Hege and King; 
 
 So when his prison-door doth grate 
 Upon that Diver, he doth bring 
 That goblet to his King. 
 
 Then spread the King his banquet-board 
 And when the sparkling wine was near, 
 
 The rarest of his vintage stored. 
 He poured into that goblet clear, 
 
 And gave to that high Lord. 
 
 So bade him drink; which doing, he 
 Fell in a swoon; and all the court 
 
 Fell in gi'eat fear that sight to see. 
 
 And gathered round from hushed sport: 
 
 It was the King's to be. 
 
 Then sent the King to learn the tale 
 About that goblet; and he found 
 
 That Carian in prison pale. 
 
 Who doth the story then expound. 
 The King is wonder-bound. 
 
 Thus did he set the Carian free, 
 
 And freed his wife and daughter, too; 
 
 While gave he gifts full lavishly; 
 And home he sent that Diver, who 
 A noble act would do. 
 
The Lady of the Humming Birds 47 
 
 THE LADY OF THE HUMMING-BIRDS 
 
 Upon the Macedonian hills 
 
 Where dwelt a fierce and war-like clan, 
 There lived a maid whose sparkling trills 
 
 With melody the hills o'erran. 
 Full dainty, black-eyed and with cheek 
 
 That glowed a ruby on the tan. 
 She had a cage of Humming-Birds 
 
 She taught beyond the ken of man. 
 
 For she could sing full wondrously 
 
 Snatches of songs from other climes; 
 And oft her Birds would mission she 
 
 To other lands and other times. 
 She loved a warrior, fierce and strong; 
 
 But women all he held amiss; 
 And thought it high disdain that one 
 
 Should bend his spirit to a kiss. 
 
 Then when upon a war-raid, he 
 
 Did lead a band on plunder bent 
 A Humming-Bird commissioned she 
 
 To follow him where'r he went; 
 And in his sleep to sing a tale 
 
 Of love unto his war-like heart. 
 E'en like her own voice: and not fail 
 
 To sometime leave an Eros' dart. 
 
48 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 
 
 So was a Humming-Bird of green, 
 
 All ruby-crested with them e'er, 
 Of glorious and immortal sheen, 
 
 A drop of darting color there. 
 But one time when he fought against 
 
 Some Greeks of far superior skill. 
 With sword they parried well and fenced, 
 
 And left him bleeding on a hill. 
 
 Then as he swooned, that Humming-Bird 
 
 Came nigh and sung into his ear; 
 And then he grieved he had not heard 
 
 The prayer of that maiden dear. 
 Oh, how he longed again to be 
 
 Upon the hills of Macedon, 
 With that dark maiden's melody 
 
 A-pouring in his ears alone! 
 
 Then went the Humming-Bird to her, 
 
 And told her of her lover's plight; 
 And over all the peaks that were. 
 
 She came to nurse him with delight. 
 And he was pleased her care to get. 
 
 In her sweet tenderness content; 
 And down the vale where first they met, 
 
 When he was well, they wedded went. 
 
The Tourmaline Vase 49 
 
 THE TOURMALINE VASE 
 
 In Persian Susa, long ago, 
 
 When Earth and Sea were ruled by spears. 
 There dwelt a Potter, who altho' 
 
 Poor, had a daughter who appears 
 Was Beauty's regal show. 
 
 And when in dainty pantaloons 
 
 The Maid on Susa's streets would wend, 
 The thousands gazed behind. Eftsoons 
 
 The giddy courtiers would bend 
 Like bees round flowered moons. 
 
 Her father had a wondrous vase, 
 
 Cai"ved from a toui-maline's fine stone, 
 
 A gift a friend whose steps did trace 
 The distant waves; it would alone 
 
 His daughter's wedding grace. 
 
 It seems a Noble of the realm 
 Did love this Maiden furiously; 
 
 But Love did not her overwhelm, 
 In truth the Noble hated she: 
 
 Maids sometimes hold the helm. 
 
50 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 
 
 Then when the Noble saw that she 
 Did hold his love in fine disdain, 
 
 He made her father prisoned be, 
 
 In hope that he revenge might gain ; 
 
 That vase, too, claimed he. 
 
 Then wept the Maid hot burning tears, 
 And saw no more of joy or mirth; 
 
 And sorrowed so, that too, appears 
 Her spirit fled away from Earth, 
 
 One night of the kind years. 
 
 She sought that vase of tourmaline 
 And filled it so with lustre quite, 
 
 That it in Noble's palace seen 
 
 Filled the beholders with delight; 
 
 So wondrous was its sheen! 
 
 But came one day the King to dine 
 Within that Noble's palace hall; 
 
 And when he saw the vase so shine. 
 For lo! its lustre covered all! 
 
 He said: "It should be mine." 
 
 And so that vase of tourmaline 
 
 Unto the kingly palace went: 
 Where over all, its sparkling sheen. 
 
 With wine and mirth and laughter blent, 
 Beside the King and Queen. 
 
The Tourmaline Vase 51 
 
 One night then when the King alone 
 Was walking in his palace hall, 
 
 He heard a sad and mourning tone 
 
 Come from the vase and round him fall, 
 
 Like pearls from Sorrow thrown. 
 
 So when he saw whence came that cry, 
 He from the vase the cause would win; 
 
 And then the Maiden did reply, 
 
 And told that deed of ruth and sin : 
 
 The King did roll his eye. 
 
 The same night doth the King then trace 
 
 That Noble to a prison-door; 
 While he in Freedom's garb did place 
 
 That ancient Potter, bent and hoar; 
 And gave him, too, that vase. 
 
 And often on a summer's night, 
 
 When Potter brooded o'er and o'er. 
 
 That vase did fill him with delight. 
 And comforted until the Door 
 
 Did open unto Light. 
 
52 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 
 
 THE JAGUARINE 
 
 Within a forest, dwelt a maid 
 
 Fleet as the mountain doe, 
 Fair as the Lily of the Vale, 
 
 Who was she, none did know. 
 Oft when the forest-wanderer 
 
 That heard her wild sweet song, 
 Came on her beauty suddenly, 
 
 He did not tarry long. 
 
 For following, a jaguar 
 
 Was ever with her seen; 
 And so the simple peasant folk 
 
 Called her the Jaguarine. 
 There, one Robalt, a woodman's son, 
 
 Had often sought this dell. 
 All unbeknown that furiously 
 
 She loved him long and well. 
 
 For often as a boj'' he saw 
 
 Her fleeting scarlet sash 
 The golden tassels of her cap, 
 
 Her darkly-fringed lash. 
 There, too, he saw her pretty cave. 
 
 Where cataract did roar. 
 Where Painted-cups did flaunt and sway, 
 
 Before its birch-bark door. 
 
The Jaguarine 53 
 
 Thither came he with a maid, 
 
 A winsome, nut-brown lass, 
 But what they did, or where they went. 
 
 Or how it came to pass, 
 Is in dispute, but Legend says 
 
 That as he hug-ged the maid. 
 Upon them came the Jaguarine, 
 
 In jealousy, deep-swayed; 
 
 And fed them Nightshade berries, and 
 
 There came a change upon; 
 For now three jaguai's she has, 
 
 Where formerly was one. 
 And often on a summer's eve 
 
 When Twilight sheds her screen. 
 Mid wail of jaguars is blent 
 
 The laughing Jaguarine. 
 
 THE GOLDEN PURSE 
 
 Now, this is the tale of a purse that was 
 
 golden. 
 All made of shagreen and loose-bound in 
 
 its fold 
 By gay colored silk and a clasp that was 
 
 olden. 
 
54 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 
 
 Which held in its pocket two pieces of 
 gold ; 
 Two bright shiny pieces just fresh from 
 their mintage, 
 Two sly roguish pieces, for ever when one 
 Was taken, it doubled without e'en a hintage 
 The purse held the less since its strange 
 life begun. 
 
 Now the purse did belong to a minstrel of 
 Venice, 
 A troubadour singing his songs o'er the 
 land: 
 Sweet snatches of woods and the far sea- 
 shore when is 
 The fragrance of spices blow'n over the 
 sand ; 
 A light, careless fellow with jest ever merry 
 Who sang at the inns or would sing at 
 a feast, 
 With an eye for a maid, an attractiveness 
 very, 
 Who payed as he went, and cared not the 
 least. 
 
 So singing one day at a wealthy betrothal, 
 To make a gay party more gay by his 
 glee. 
 
The Golden Purse 
 
 Where gowns were the richest, of gold- 
 braided cloth, all 
 And many an eye sparkled brighter to 
 see. 
 He sang with a fervor, a reckless abandon 
 
 As if he were even the richest on earth; 
 With a mandolin singing, a purse with his 
 hand on, 
 And a burden of nothing, of nothing but 
 mirth. 
 
 There in the hall modest was one who had 
 listened 
 Who loved him at sight, did this maiden 
 I trow. 
 With his spangles that glittered, his bright 
 eye that glistened. 
 And rich voice and manner that pleased 
 them all so; 
 But well did she know that her father a 
 miser 
 Had planned her a dissolute man of great 
 wealth. 
 And well did she know what he e'er did de- 
 vise her. 
 Opposing, was wasting her beauty and 
 health. 
 
56 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 
 
 Oh, Love is a pow'r that within the heart's 
 portals 
 Once entered and oh, the sweet unrest it 
 brings. 
 And so with this maid, 'tis a faihng of mor- 
 tals; 
 Thus the minstrel's voice played on the 
 maiden's heart-strings. 
 So she sent forth her maid for the minstrel 
 to meet her 
 When bright was the starlight, and lo 
 when he came, 
 He thought that he never beheld any 
 sweeter ; 
 And so they were lovers with yearnings 
 the same. 
 
 But a servant revealed to his miserly master 
 The troubador's coming, what partings 
 they gave, 
 (0 servants, the cause of a many disaster! 
 What is there at sei*ving that maketh 
 you slave?) 
 And told of the magical purse that he car- 
 ried; 
 The miser's eyes glistened with malice 
 and greed. 
 
The Golden Purse 57 
 
 And then did they plan that the next night 
 he tarried, 
 To lock the maid in, and rob him, indeed. 
 
 And so when the minstrel came forth for 
 his meeting. 
 They murdered him there on the path in 
 the dark: 
 The blow of a bludgeon he got for a greet- 
 ing, 
 And there he is lying still, hidden and 
 stark. 
 But when saw the miser the bright yellow 
 pieces, 
 He took out the two, and beheld with a 
 curse. 
 That he who had hoped to be richer than 
 Croesus, 
 Found nothing but ashes was left in the 
 purse. 
 
 And the maiden was not to be comforted 
 
 ever, 
 The maiden that waited the minstrel to 
 
 come. 
 The minstrel that sweetly will sing again 
 
 never, 
 
58 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 
 
 The lips that were hquid will ever be 
 dumb. 
 Some stories have told how the maid over- 
 hearing 
 
 The servant and father their guilt trying 
 to hide, 
 Had spread a birth-banquet to them all un- 
 fearing, 
 
 And poisoned the wine and so with them 
 died. 
 
 But the minstrel is gone with his mandolin 
 hanging, 
 His sweet songs of mirth and his sonnets 
 of love. 
 His grim tales of war with the fierce sabers 
 clanging, 
 His madrigals sung to the bright eyes 
 above ; 
 The minstrel is gone and his mandolin 
 broken, 
 His heart that was fervid is lifeless and 
 cold. 
 And this shall ye know of him, this be his 
 token. 
 His purse holdeth ashes where once it 
 held gold. 
 
The Dwarf and the Canary 59 
 
 JHE DWARF AND THE CANARY 
 
 By a pool within a wood 
 Near a floating lily stood 
 
 A Dwarf: new 
 Was the cloak whose poppied tint 
 Did weaved mysteries imprint 
 
 As it flew. 
 
 Tho' on face, Age flung her curtain 
 With its wrinkles, still a certain 
 
 Beauty clung, 
 Like the irridescent sheen 
 From the beetle's coat of green 
 
 When 'tis young. 
 
 For with woodcraft knew he then 
 Every herb of wood or glen, 
 
 And each flower 
 Was a globed realm that beat 
 With an insect world complete — 
 
 A star-tower. 
 
 Now beneath the flags deep-blue 
 Lived a Nymph, whose beauties do 
 
 So enthrall. 
 That the birds all came to sing 
 Every morning to her spring. 
 For they loved her lingering 
 
 Lisping call 
 
60 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 
 
 Like the limpid call of brooks 
 In the wildest strangest nooks, 
 
 Sweetly drawn; 
 Or the tinkling of a bell 
 In the faintest, deepest dell 
 Of a forest, that doth tell 
 
 Her pet faun. 
 
 Oft above that pool so deep 
 He had seen her lovely peep. 
 
 Then was gone: 
 For she deemed because his face 
 Was so wrinkled that all gi'ace 
 
 Was withdrawn. 
 
 Thus while mused this dwarfish fellow, 
 A canary bright and yellow 
 
 On the pool 
 Fell; and up a blue fish darted 
 Seized the bird and downward started 
 
 To depths cool. 
 
 Then the Dwarf, who loved birds, leaping, 
 (For he heard her young ones weeping) 
 
 Dove down deep 
 And had reached the swooning frame 
 Of the bird when o'er him came 
 
 A deep sleep. 
 
The Dwarf and the Canary 61 
 
 When he waked, 'twas under wave 
 In a marble columned Cave, 
 
 He guessed whose; 
 Tho' the Nymph was seen nowhere, 
 Flowers frail and rich and rare 
 
 Were profuse. 
 
 And he heard the sweet Canary — 
 Singing like a winged faery 
 
 From a tree; 
 Tho' her song was far away 
 Still her piping seemed to say: 
 
 "Follow me." 
 
 Following a garden's air. 
 Came he on that one so fair 
 
 The oft-fleeted. 
 Where the Cave and waters meet. 
 And her voice was rich and sweet 
 
 As she greeted. 
 
 Then he spoke of loveliness, 
 Of the spirit that doth dress 
 
 All life here. 
 Of the glory of the Earth, 
 Of his one and utter deai'th, 
 Of his hope of a new birth 
 
 In some sphere: 
 
62 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 
 
 Till the Nymph could not conceal 
 All the wonder she did feel 
 
 At his mind, 
 For the intellect so rare 
 Of a god was shining there, 
 Till she wondered how she e'er 
 
 Had been blind. 
 
 Then she loved him and above 
 Thro' the waters these three dove. 
 
 And they went 
 To the Dwarf's hut, where two wed, 
 And in happiness Time sped. 
 For the wild canaries shed 
 
 Blandishment. 
 
 THE RED OPAL 
 
 On a mount in Guadelara, 
 
 Remnant of an ancient race, 
 
 Lived a little Aztec maiden 
 
 Lithe of form and fair of face; 
 
 She who hunted down the congar 
 With a quiver and a bow; 
 
 Or who chased the mountain big horn 
 Till he lay in panting woe. 
 
The Red Opal 63 
 
 One day in a cave she entered, 
 
 Came she on an oaken door, 
 With an opal neck-chami on it 
 
 And this Aztec motto o'er: 
 
 "Take who will this single Opal, 
 Take and wear it" (so it saith) 
 
 "And who loves thee ne'er will alter, 
 But will love thee e'en in death." 
 
 So upon her nut-brown bosom 
 Hung the pendant Opal red; — 
 
 For the Aztec maiden feared not 
 Portant living, portent dead. 
 
 But the fiery Aztec maiden 
 
 Red of cheek and jetty eyed. 
 Was as curious as Pandora, 
 
 To find what the cave doth hide. 
 
 So she broke the massive door-lock; 
 
 And the hinges gavei a groan, 
 As the maiden trod a portal 
 
 That was of an age unknown. 
 
 Lo! it was a treasure-laden 
 
 House of unremembered date. 
 
 And the maiden's eyes were dazzled 
 By the gold and silver plate, — 
 
64 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 
 
 By the great, grotesqueful idols, — 
 Cumbersome and costly dials, — 
 
 By the rich-wrought carven columns, — 
 By the tasteful, fragile vials. 
 
 Urns and pitchers tall and massy, — 
 
 Cups and goblets filligred, — 
 Implements of shapely culture 
 
 Such as time has ceased to need. 
 
 Everything of gold and silver; 
 
 Even swords and shields and spears; 
 And the maiden stood amazed 
 
 As the gleaming wealth appears. 
 
 But she kept her hut of birches 
 Tho' her secret slumbered deep; 
 
 And she kept the Opal neck-charm, 
 Which would from her bosom peep. 
 
 Till one day a Spanish horseman 
 Gaily dressed did pass that way; 
 
 And his youthful eye burned blacker 
 As it on the Opal lay ; 
 
 Which he knew must be a treasure 
 
 Fit, indeed, for one in Spain: 
 So he wooed the Aztec maiden. 
 
 Falsely wooed her to her pain. 
 
The Red Opal 65 
 
 Wooed her till she loved him truly; 
 
 Till she told her secrets all; 
 Till of Montezuma's treasure 
 
 One day from her lips did fall. 
 
 Then the Spaniard begged to lead him, 
 
 By the wedding he foretold, 
 To the cave of antique wonders, 
 
 To the carnival of gold. 
 
 "Nay, not so," the maiden answered, 
 "Till the altar us doth bind"; 
 
 But he saw a seiiorita 
 
 That in Spain he left behind. 
 
 And the Aztec maiden's firmness 
 Rankled in his Spanish blood: 
 
 With a mighty oath he struck her, 
 And she fell beside the wood. 
 
 Then with gi'asping hand the Opal 
 From her lovely neck he tore; 
 
 From the lifeless Aztec maiden 
 Lying by her birch-bark door. 
 
 But the Opal had a poison ; 
 
 And, as swift as serpent's dart. 
 When he tore, its needle entered 
 
 In his vein and sought his heart. 
 
66 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 
 
 So he reeled, and lay beside her; 
 
 Clasping still in death her head; — 
 Aztec maid and Spanish lover, — 
 
 Where the Opal burneth red. 
 
 THE GOOSE AND THE WATER SNAKE 
 
 Down in the rushes so slender and blue 
 Where gnats dance o'er eddies narrow, 
 
 Croucht agile-limbed Domic, the goose- 
 hunter, who 
 Waited with bow and with arrow. 
 
 Then came swooping down that gi'eat flock 
 from the North; 
 
 The first was a splendid white speeder: 
 So Domic shot, and the winged dart forth 
 
 Stuck in the wing of the leader. 
 
 Then again rose that great flock for flight, 
 Save two that flew where he was lying, 
 
 To help the white Goose in his plight: 
 An arrow soon sent them a-flying. 
 
 Now Domic leapt out to o'ertake. 
 
 But the Goose to a briared cove warded. 
 
 When a beautiful green and gold Snake 
 Came out of the water and guarded. 
 
The Gold Bell 67 
 
 And so every day for a week 
 
 When Domic that Goose had beholden, 
 Why so every day for a week 
 
 Came out that green Snake and golden. 
 
 And one day away to the South 
 
 He saw the great white Goose a-speeding, 
 His silver tips bright as he ploweth 
 
 To the gi'eat flock he soon would be lead- 
 ing. 
 
 And thus is the reason soon seen 
 
 When the flock sof geese visit the brakes, 
 There's always a friendship between 
 
 The geese and the gi'een water-snakes. 
 
 THE GOLD BELL 
 
 In that time when did reign 
 
 Darius, called the Great, 
 And unto his domain 
 
 Was linkt, too, many a state. 
 And there were golden tributes ta'en 
 
 In ingots of much weight. 
 There was a golden bell 
 
 That was made to gayly ring. 
 When wed was (so they tell) 
 
 The daughter of the king; 
 A splendid, golden bell 
 
 That melodious could sing. 
 
68 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 
 
 It a little tower did hold, 
 
 Afore the temple door, 
 Where the gold-veiled and soled 
 
 Would pass with it hung o'er; 
 And like confetti wrapped in gold 
 
 Would its notes down on them pour. 
 
 Such was the bell's intent — 
 
 This gift of some ameer 
 Where gold full plenteous went, 
 
 Cameled where gold was dear. 
 It was a charming present sent 
 
 Unto the king's daughter. 
 
 But alack! alack! alack! 
 
 For that bell in the tower's fold! — 
 For that gold bell had a crack 
 
 Which no one did behold; 
 And it answered one golden echo back, 
 
 And powdered their heads with gold. 
 
 LRB" 
 
LAST WORD 
 
 Children, adieu! 
 
 Your minds so sweet 
 I joy I knew, 
 
 Time's blessings meet 
 You friendly, all, 
 
 My blessings, too; 
 One last fond call. 
 
 Children, adieu!