JAPANESE IRIS

By Frank Oliver Call

A great prince of the ancient days

Once loved a little geisha girl,

Who wore a silken robe,

Blue as the waters of the lily-pond.

But the Great Prince was sent to a distant island,

And the little geisha girl

Never put on her robe of blue again.

And you, O purple iris with the golden bands,

Are the soul of the Great Prince;

And you, O slender one,

Blue as lapis lazuli,

Are the soul of the little dancing-girl;

And you nestle at last

Beside your stately purple Prince,

Here in the sunshine of my northern garden.