Sea-Color by Myra Morris

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     "Her eyes, her eyes," they said to me, 
     "Are as the color of the sea!" 

Color of seas a-swoon with dreams! 
   I visioned miles of filmy blue-- 
Pale, land-locked bays in mellow creams 
   And caves with sunlight filtering through; 
Gold-shadowed seas of cloudy white --
Mirages of unguessed delight --
   And mirrored skies 
   Remembered too! 
They said her eyes were like the sea!) 
   I saw within a golden net, 
Long lines of lapis-lazuli 
   Where curling cloud and water met, 
A depth of blue such as I know 
In crowded beds where larkspurs blow 
   And lupin-buds 
   Long-opened. Yet 
There came to me still depths of green 
   That went through every limpid shade 
From bronzed moss where rust had been 
   To almond-green and glowing jade; 
And all the emeralds that spread 
Above the peacock's tufted head 
   A dream of pure 
   Enchantment made! 
Sea color! Then, against the rim, 
   Patches of purple dark like grapes. 
I saw, unfathomable, dim, 
   Beneath a sky all hurrying shapes 
Drowned beds of pansies royally dyed, 
And broken violets on the tide 
   Around the points 
   And little capes. 
What color was the sea? I saw 
   It rippling on with lazy flecks, 
Wind-ruffled where the breeze sucked raw, 
   And opalescent like the necks 
Of grey wood-pigeons, Pool on pool 
That lapped against sardonyx cool. 
   And fish that seemed 
   Just silver specks. 

And though her eyes were like the sea 
Their color is a mystery! 

First published in The Bulletin, 23 August 1923

Author reference sites: AustlitAustralian Dictionary of Biography

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