THOSE YOU DINED WITH

They would have made you like a pageant, bold

And nightly festive, lustre-lit for them,

And round your beauty, like a dusky gem,

Have poured the glamour of the pride of gold;

And you would lie in life as in her bed

The mistress of a pale king, indolent,

Though hot her limbs and strong her languishment,

And her deep spirit is unvisited.

But I would see you like a gypsy, free

As windy morning in the sunny air,

Your wild warm self, your vivid self, to be,

A miracle of nature's liberty,

Giving your gift of being kind and fair,

High, gay and careless-handed everywhere!