Epithalamion

Smile then, children, hand in handBright and white as the summer snow,Or that young King of the Grecian land,Who smiled on Thetis, long ago, --So long ago when, heart aflame,The grave and gentle Peleus cameTo the shore where the halcyon fliesTo wed the maiden of his devotion,The dancing lady with sky-blue eyes,Thetis, the darling of Paradise,The daughter of old Ocean.Seas before her rise and break,Dolphins tumble in her wakeAlong the sapphire courses:With Tritons ablow on their pearly shellsWith a plash of waves and a clash of bellsFrom the glimmering house where her Father dwellsShe drives his white-tail horses!And the boys of heaven gowned and crowned,Have Aphrodite to lead them round,Aphrodite with hair unboundHer silver breasts adorning.Her long, her soft, her streaming hair,Falls on a silver breast laid bareBy the stir and swing of the sealit airAnd the movement of the morning.