Classic Poem

He told a tale as wild as sad;
And they who listened deemed it mad —
Mad as the delirious dream
Of one who, on an Indian stream
Floating in a Morphean bark,
Feeds on the charmed lotus leaf —
While under the palms, in visions brief,
Through shadows of sunset, golden-dark,
The camels and camelopards stand
With plumed tribes on the yellow sand,
To gaze with steadfast, wondering eyes
Where the feeding dreamer floating lies.