ONG 25

THE ISLANDS 27

AT BAIA 30

SEA HEROES 31

"NOT HONEY" 33

EVADNE 34

SONG 35

WHY HAVE YOU SOUGHT 36

THE WHOLE WHITE WORLD 37

PHAEDRA 38

SHE CONTRASTS WITH HERSELF HIPPOLYTA 40

SHE REBUKES HIPPOLYTA 42

EGYPT 44

HELIOS 45

PRAYER 47

HYMEN

_As from a temple service, tall and dignified, with slow pace, each a
queen, the sixteen matrons from the temple of Hera pass before the
curtain--a dark purple hung between Ionic columns--of the porch or open
hall of a palace. Their hair is bound as the marble hair of the temple
Hera. Each wears a crown or diadem of gold._

_They sing--the music is temple music, deep, simple, chanting notes:_

From the closed garden
Where our feet pace
Back and forth each day,
This gladiolus white,
This red, this purple spray--
Gladiolus tall with dignity
As yours, lady--we lay
Before your feet and pray:

Of all the blessings--
Youth, joy, ecstasy--
May one gift last
(As the tall gladiolus may
Outlast the wind-flower,
Winter-rose or rose),
One gift above,
Encompassing all those;

For her, for him,
For all within these palace walls,
Beyond the feast,
Beyond the cry of Hymen and the torch,
Beyond the night and music
Echoing through the porch till day.

_The music, with its deep chanting notes, dies away. The curtain hangs
motionless in rich, full folds. Then from this background of darkness,
dignity and solemn repose, a flute gradually detaches itself, becomes
clearer and clearer, pipes alone one shrill, simple little melody._

_From the distance, four children's voices blend with the flute, and
four very little girls pass singly before the curtain, small maids or
attendants of the sixteen matrons. Their hair is short and curls at the
back of their heads like the hair of the chryselephantine Hermes. They
sing:_

Where the first crocus buds unfold
We found these petals near the cold
Swi