Robert Browning -- SONG FROM 'PARACELSUS'

 SONG FROM 'PARACELSUS'

                                                               Robert Browning (1812-1889)

            EAP cassia, sandal-buds and stripes
            Of labdanum, and aloe-balls,
            Smear'd with dull nard an Indian wipes
            From out her hair: such balsam falls
            Down sea-side mountain pedestals,
            From tree-tops where tired winds are fain,
            Spent with the vast and howling main,
            To treasure half their island-gain.
            
            And strew faint sweetness from some old
            Egyptian's fine worm-eaten shroud
            Which breaks to dust when once unroll'd;
            Or shredded perfume, like a cloud
            From closet long to quiet vow'd
            With moth'd and dropping arras hung,
            Mouldering her lute and books among,
            As when a queen, long dead, was young.