AFTER the whipping, he crawled into bed; | |
Accepting the harsh fact with no great weeping. | |
How funny uncle's hat had looked striped red! | |
He chuckled silently. The moon came, sweeping | |
A black frayed rag of tattered cloud before | 5 |
In scorning; very pure and pale she seemed, | |
Flooding his bed with radiance. On the floor | |
Fat motes danced. He sobbed; closed his eyes and dreamed. | |
|
Warm sand flowed round him. Blurts of crimson light | |
Splashed the white grains like blood. Past the cave's mouth | 10 |
Shone with a large fierce splendor, wildly bright, | |
The crooked constellations of the South; | |
Here the Cross swung; and there, affronting Mars, | |
The Centaur stormed aside a froth of stars. | |
Within, great casks like wattled aldermen | 15 |
Sighed of enormous feasts, and cloth of gold | |
Glowed on the walls like hot desire. Again, | |
Beside webbed purples from some galleon's hold, | |
A black chest bore the skull and bones in white | |
Above a scrawled "Gunpowder!" By the flames, | 20 |
Decked out in crimson, gemmed with syenite, | |
Hailing their fellows by outrageous names | |
The pirates sat and diced. Their eyes were moons. | |
"Doubloons!" they said. The words crashed gold. "Doubloons!" | |