Tuesday, November 06, 2007

a dream, said Princess Haiku





"Who know not love from amity,
Nor my reported self from me;
A fair fit gift is this, meseems,
You give--this withering flower of dreams.

"O frankly fickle, and fickly true,
Do you know what the days will do to you?
To your Love and you what the days will do,
O frankly fickle, and fickly true?

"You have loved me, Fair, three lives--or days:
'Twill pass with the passing of my face.
But where I go, your face goes too,
To watch lest I play false to you.

"I am but, my sweet, your foster-lover,
Knowing well when certain years are over
You vanish from me to another;
Yet I know, and love, like the foster-mother.

"So, frankly fickle, and fickly true!
For my brief life--while I take from you
This token, fair and fit, meseems,
For me--this withering flower of dreams."

* * *

The sleep-flower sways in the wheat its head,
Heavy with dreams, as that with bread:
The goodly grain and the sun-flushed sleeper
The reaper reaps, and Time the reaper.

I hang 'mid men my needless head,
And my fruit is dreams, as theirs is bread:
The goodly men and the sun-hazed sleeper
Time shall reap, but after the reaper
The world shall glean of me, me the sleeper!

by Francis Thompson


With appreciation for all of the flowers in my garden:

Japonisme
East Coast Dweller
Get Zapped
Absolute Vanilla
she Who Flies
Jac
Antonia
Marion
dream catcher
kat

7 comments:

lotusgreen said...

you know, i've heard of a high you can get from poppies, but this is the first time i've felt it.

thank you.

Unknown said...

Those images are sublime. What is it about poppies, such simple flowers, yet so evocative.

Diane Dehler said...

These, luminous creatures belong to both worlds. I see their beauty as a portal...

Eastcoastdweller said...

I first encountered the ominous beauty of the poppy as a child in the pages of the Wizard of Oz, where they put the heroes into dreamy sleep.

So lovely and yet so deadly. The cousin of the state flower of California pays the bills for terrorists in Afghanistan.

Diane Dehler said...

True, this lovely flower has been responsible for much good and evil in this world. But she is just a flower growing innocently in the fields..

Anonymous said...

Those are so gorgeous! Thanks for visiting, too. :)

Anonymous said...

These are absolutely stunning, princess .... i should know that i shall always find peace AND beauty whilst visiting your place.

oh, and that cup of tea will be just perfect. while i sit here and bathe in the sweet air of your garden ...

thank you for the respite.

love,
red