VENICE

February 1922 John Dos Passos
VENICE
February 1922 John Dos Passos

VENICE

XV Century

JOHN DOS PASSOS

THE Doge goes down in state to the sea

To inspect, with beady traders' eyes,

New cargoes from Crete, Mytilene,

Cyprus and Joppa; galleys piled

With bales off which, in all the days

Of sailing, the sea-wind has not blown

The dust of Arabian caravans.

In velvet the Doge goes down to the sea,

And sniffs the dusty bales of spice;

Pepper from Cathay, nard and musk;

Strange marbles from ruined cities, packed

In unfamiliar-scented straw.

Black slaves sweat and grin in the sun,

Marmosets pull at the pompous gowns

Of burgesses. Parrots scream

And cling, swaying, to the ochre bales . . .

Dazzle of the rising dust of trade,

Smell of pitch and straining slaves . . .

And, out on the green tide, towards the sea,

Drift the rinds of orient fruits

Strange to the lips; bitter, and sweet.