William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. (1878–1962). Anthology of Magazine Verse for 1920.
Ave
T
Glows in her flesh and her ironic eyes.
Gazing on her, old pageantries arise
Of queens and splendid courtesans, whose lust
Was power to loot a peacock throne, or thrust
Satraps to battle for their beauty’s prize.
Thus Theodora flaunted, and none otherwise
La Pompadour and Lais gone to dust.
Against the grayness of democracy.
No broadsword this, but a bright scimitar,
Tempered in flame and edged with subtlety.
Her art is life; in braver days than this
She would have throned it with Semiramis.