LA DAME JAUNE

She took the curious amber charms

From off her neck, and laid them down,

She loosed her jonquil-coloured gown,

And shook the bracelets from her arms.

She loosed her lemon-satin stays,

She took a carven ivory comb,

Her hair crawled down like yellow foam,

And flickered in the candle’s rays.

I watched her thick locks, like a mass

Of honey, dripping from the pin;

Each separate hair was as the thin

Gold thread within a Venice glass.