In the Gold Room - a Harmony
In the Gold Room - a Harmony - meaning Summary
Sensual Gilded Comparisons
Wilde's short lyric uses sustained, decorative similes to fuse music, nature, and opulent color in a portrait of desire. The speaker describes a woman's hands, hair, and lips through rich analogies—ivory keys, gold walls, ruby fire—linking touch and sight to sound and taste. The poem emphasizes aesthetic beauty and erotic longing through sensory detail and repeated imagery, creating a ritualized, almost sacred tone of admiration.
Read Complete AnalysesHer ivory hands on the ivory keys Strayed in a fitful fantasy, Like the silver gleam when the poplar trees Rustle their pale-leaves listlessly, Or the drifting foam of a restless sea When the waves show their teeth in the flying breeze. Her gold hair fell on the wall of gold Like the delicate gossamer tangles spun On the burnished disk of the marigold, Or the sunflower turning to meet the sun When the gloom of the dark blue night is done, And the spear of the lily is aureoled. And her sweet red lips on these lips of mine Burned like the ruby fire set In the swinging lamp of a crimson shrine, Or the bleeding wounds of the pomegranate, Or the heart of the lotus drenched and wet With the spilt-out blood of the rose-red wine.
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