The Egyptian woman

On a watercolor of Princess M...

Caprice itself of a fantasist’s brush

And of an empire’s sense of leisure,

Your Egyptian, sphinx under a bush,

Presents an enigma to desire.

It’s a fashion austere terribly

This mask and all this lengthy dress;

She intrigues with her mystery

All the Salon’s Œdipuses.

Isis of old her veils bequeathed

Unto the modern girls of the Nile;

Despite the wrapping, two stars underneath

Gleam with fire pure and subtle.

These eyes which are an entire poem

Of languorousness and volupty

Say themselves, resolving the problem,

“If love there be, I am beauty.”

Théophile Gautier