Britannia / Andrew Lang

From Jules Lemaître

Thy mouth is fresh as cherries on the bough,

Red cherries in the dawning, and more white

Than milk or white camellias is thy brow;

And as the golden corn thy hair is bright,

The corn that drinks the Sun's less fair than thou;

While through thine eyes the child-soul gazeth now--

Eyes like the flower that was Rousseau's delight.*

Sister of sad Ophelia, say, shall these

Thy pearly teeth grow like piano keys

Yellow and long; while thou, all skin and bone,

Angles and morals, in a sky-blue veil,

Shalt hosts of children to the sermon hale,

Blare hymns, read chapters, backbite, and intone?

*The pervenche, or periwinkle.