A Budget of Paradoxes

John Martley (1844–1882)

CHILD in thy beauty; empress in thy pride;

Sweet and unyielding as the summer’s tide;

Starlike to tremble, starlike to abide.

Guiltless of wounding, yet more true than steel;

Gem-like thy light to flash and to conceal;

Tortoise to bear, insect to see and feel.

Blushing and shy, yet dread we thy disdain;

Smiling, a sunbeam fraught with hints of rain;

Trilling love-notes to freedom’s fierce refrain.

The days are fresh, the hours are wild and sweet,

When spring and winter, dawn and darkness meet;

Nymph, with one welcome, thee and these we greet.