LES BALLONS

Portrait of Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde 1854–1900
11Charmides and Other Poems

LES BALLONS

Against these turbid turquoise skies The light and luminous balloons Dip and drift like satin moons Drift like silken butterflies;

Reel with every windy gust, Rise and reel like dancing girls, Float like strange transparent pearls, Fall and float like silver dust.

Now to the low leaves they cling, Each with coy fantastic pose, Each a petal of a rose Straining at a gossamer string.

Then to the tall trees they climb, Like thin globes of amethyst, Wandering opals keeping tryst With the rubies of the lime.

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