Lowell, Amy . The Book of Stones and Lilies
Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library

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The Book of Stones and Lilies
Lowell, Amy

Creation of machine-readable version: Judy Boss

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Conversion to TEI.2-conformant markup: University of Virginia Library Electronic Text Center. ca. 5 kilobytes
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1997
About the print version


The Book of Stones and Lilies
Scribner's Magazine, Vol. LXX, No. 5
Amy Lowell p. 560
Charles Scribner's Sons
New York
November 1921

   Prepared for the University of Virginia Library Electronic Text Center.


Published: 1921


English poetry Native AmericanWomen WritersYoung Readers LCSH
Revisions to the electronic version
July 1997 corrector Carol Osborne, Electronic Text Center
Added TEI header and tags



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-560-



THE BOOK OF STONES AND LILIES
By Amy Lowell



I READ a book
With a golden name,
Written in blood
On a leaf of flame.


And the words of the book
Were clothed in white,
With tiger colors
Making them bright.


The sweet words sang
Like an angel choir,
And their purple wings
Beat the air to fire.


Then I rose on my bed,
And attended my ear,
And the words sang carefully
So I could hear.


The dark night opened
Like a silver bell,
And I heard what it was
The words must tell:
"Heaven is good.
Evil is Hell."


The night shut up
Like a silver bell.
But the words still sang,
And I listened well.


I heard the tree-winds
Crouch and roar,
I saw green waves
On a stony shore.


I saw blue wings
In a beat of fire.
My hands clutched the feathers
Of all desire.


I cried for hammers,
For a hand of brass,
But my soul was hot
As melted glass.


Then the bright, bright words,
All clothed in white,
Stood in the circle of the silver night
And sang:
"Energy is Eternal Delight.
Energy is the only life."


And my sinews were like bands of brass,
And the glass of my soul hardened and shone
With all fires, and I sought the ripeness of sacrifice
Across the dew and the gold of a young day.