Ancestors

BEHOLD these jewelled merchant Ancestors

Foregathered in some chancellery of death;

Calm provident discreet they stroke their beards

And move their faces slowly in the gloom

And barter monstrous wealth with speech subdued 5

Lustreless eyes and acquiescent lids.

And oft in pauses of their conference

They listen to the measured breath of night?  s

Hushed sweep of wind aloft the swaying trees

In dimly gesturing gardens; then a voice 10

Climbs with clear mortal song half-sad for heaven.

A silent-footed message flits and brings

The ghostly Sultan from his glimmering halls;

A shadow at the window turbaned vast

He leans; and pondering the sweet influence 15

That steals around him in remembered flowers

Hears the frail music wind along the slopes

Put forth and fade across the whispering sea.