Angels and Women (1924)

86 ANGELS AND WOMEN
scriptions, and tinted images that rivalled
their living models, everywhere met the eye;
while through tessellated footpaths and carriage-ways
pressed an expectant throng,
who knelt upon the ground and hailed the
monarch’s arrival with shouts of adulation.
As the chariot halted before the most
superb of the corner towers, where gay
courtiers stood in waiting, Satanas lifted
Samoula in his arms. Together they floated
rather than walked up the marble stairway,
and vanished from sight in the broad illuminated
hall. I followed in great bewilderment.
There was no abrupt sound or motion,
like retreating footsteps, only the noiseless
glide of a serpent.
Through long corridors, where gilded pillars
upheld the vaulted ceiling, we were escorted
to apartments in the northern tower.
Here every imaginable luxury awaited us,
and obsequious slaves stood ready to anticipate
our wants. The chambers appropriated
to Samoula exceed the wildest dreams of