'Twixt ivory pales uprose a precious dome,
A shrine thatched over where no man might come,
For vestals only could the entrance win
To worship her who sat enthroned therein—
A Goddess fresh begotten of the foam.

Until one day I that way chanced to roam,
Half open stood the gateway in the gloom,
Revealing splendours of the shrine within
⁠'Twixt ivory pales.