Of labdanum, and aloe-balls,
Smeared with dull " /> Of labdanum, and aloe-balls,
Smeared with dull "/>
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Robert Browning - "Heap cassia, sandal-buds and stripes"

2014-11-07 47 Dailymotion

Heap cassia, sandal-buds and stripes
Of labdanum, and aloe-balls,
Smeared with dull nard an Indian wipes
From out her hair: such balsam falls
Down sea-side mountain pedestals,
From tree-tops where tired winds are fain,
Spent with the vast and howling main,
To treasure half their island-gain.

And strew faint sweetness from some old
Egyptian's fine worm-eaten shroud
Which breaks to dust when once unrolled;
Or shredded perfume, like a cloud
From closet long to quiet vowed,
With mothed and dropping arras hung,
Mouldering her lute and books among,
As when a queen, long dead, was young.

Robert Browning

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/heap-cassia-sandal-buds-and-stripes/