Sleeping Beauty by John Collier, 1921
The Sleeping Beauty
Dedicated to my daughter, Ariel Pisturino
Lying there in sweet repose,
Lips as red as any rose,
The Sleeping Beauty rests her head
Upon a gold and velvet bed;
Golden tresses fair displayed
Around the shoulders softly laid,
Be-decked in sequined, jeweled dress,
Her slender hands across her breast.
Fair Maid! -- What evil cast you here
To sleep a full one hundred year
Until a Prince with noble pride
Into the castle court should ride
And climb the steeply winding stair
To find a maid with golden hair
Lying on a couch asleep,
Lost in dreaming long and deep,
And drop upon the tender lips
A kiss so pure the magic slips.
And, lo! -- the eyelids flutter wide
And see a vision at her side:
A handsome Prince so near and nigh,
The maiden cannot help but sigh
And stretch out pleading hands to him
Who kissed her softly on a whim,
And thanking him with grateful smile,
Requests of him to stay a while.
The Prince proves better than a guest
And presses her against his breast;
Then carries her, swift as the wind,
Upon his horse across the land
To marble castle rising high
Against the purple morning sky.
And when she curtsies to the King,
The Queen presents her with a ring
And crown of jewels sparkling white --
Gifts of softly glowing light --
That bind her to her Prince's life:
No more a maid! -- but now, his wife!
Dawn Pisturino
April 25, 1987/October 20, 2020
Copyright 1987-2020 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.
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