Agnes Lee. The Ilex Tree. Harriet Monroe, ed. Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912-22

Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912–22.

The Ilex Tree

By Agnes Lee


From “Sleep Poems” WHAT spirit touched the faded lambrequin,
And slept? The doorway’s lintel, ambered, rosed
With age, overlooks a stunted ilex tree
Grown in the middle path. Its branches guard
The house in silence, or with green dark gesture	5
Spreading protection, whisper pleadingly:
“The past is asleep behind the lambrequin.
Do not go in. The door is closed.”