William Stanley Braithwaite, "In My Lady's Praise" (1903)
I only know that thou art fair.
Made of some priceless loom, and dyes
He wrought you, flesh and hair and eyes
For thou art fill'd with every rare
And precious thing of earth, sky, air.
The magical blue of warm June skies
Gleams in your calm and sultry eyes;
The unguent of the fragrant fields
No sweeter, subtler perfume yields
Than the aroma of your breath,
Delicate fragrance attared 'neath
The sculptured, firm white beauty of
Your neck, arch'd so sweetly above
The undulation of your breast
Like ocean swells in slow unrest,
With such exquisite motions act
Like captious, yearning cataract,
It seems from some sweet source to swell
Full, passionate and musical.
I would not praise too much your charms;
The curvature of your fair arms;
For the hand that modeled you
Gave every line respective due.
Laborious tho' his task begun.
'Twas pleasure when he viewed you, done.
Whatever might his joy have been
'Tis confident he tried again
To give you more than sculptured grace
In lineaments of form and face.
He tuned the strings of soul and sense
To notes of soothing elegance;
The quintessence of April's dream
In varying moods of shade and sheen
Tempered the phases of your mind.
To fancies changeful as the wind.
He gave you joy, the crown of life,
Pure metal unalloyed with strife;
And just enough of passion, too,
To make you madd'ning thro' and thro'.
But these mere words do ill supply
The color to paint my visioned eye.
The blended beauty in you, glows
Of lily, violet and rose;
The lily, symbol of thy pure
Chaste, gracious soul; the lure
Of spiritual radiance, which,
Shrine you a saint in holy niche;
But when endowed with saddened mien
Apensive violet you seem,
A tender, tearful, yearning child
Of fragrant senses, frail and mild.
And then, you too can turn to be
Agorgeous rose divinity--
Love, life and passion smiling thro'
The perfect fullness of your hue!
Published in Colored American Magazine, August 1903