Odalisques, odalisques,
Treading the pavement
With feet pomegranate-stained:
When we’d less years
We bartered for, bought you—
Ah, then, we knew you.
Odalisques, odalisques,
Treading the pavement
With feet pomegranate-stained!
Queens of the air,—
Aithra, lole,
Eos or Auge,
Taking new beauty
From the sun’s evening brightness.
Gyring in light
As nymphs play in waters—
Aithra, lole,
Eos or Auge!
Then down on our doorsteps,
Gretchen and Dora …
This poem is in the public domain. Published in Poem-a-Day on March 29, 2026, by the Academy of American Poets.
