Ivory hands, golden hair, red lips
In the Gold Room
"Her ivory hands on the ivory keys"
Poem
A Harmony
Her ivory hands on the ivory keysStrayed in a fitful fantasy,Like the silver gleam when the poplar treesRustle their pale leaves listlessly,Or the drifting foam of a restless seaWhen the waves show their teeth in the flying breeze.
Her gold hair fell on the wall of goldLike the delicate gossamer tangles spunOn the burnished disk of the marigold,Or the sunflower turning to meet the sunWhen 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 mineBurned like the ruby fire setIn the swinging lamp of a crimson shrine,Or the bleeding wounds of the pomegranate,Or the heart of the lotus drenched and wetWith the spilt-out blood of the rose-red wine.
In brief
SummaryA woman in a gilded room is painted in three stanzas, each built on one colour and one part of her. First her ivory hands wander over the ivory keys, pale as poplar leaves or sea foam. Then her gold hair falls against the gold wall, like gossamer on a marigold or a sunflower turning to the dawn. Last, her red lips meet the speaker's and burn like a ruby lamp in a shrine, a split pomegranate and a lotus soaked in wine. The poem moves from white to gold to red, and from watching to kissing.
Key themes
"Her gold hair fell on the wall of gold"
Summary
The first stanza watches the woman's 'ivory hands' straying over 'the ivory keys' in 'a fitful fantasy', a restless, wandering piece of music. The speaker compares their movement to the silver gleam of poplar leaves that 'Rustle their pale leaves listlessly', and to the drifting foam of a restless sea 'When the waves show their teeth in the flying breeze'.
The second stanza turns to her hair. Her 'gold hair fell on the wall of gold' like fine gossamer threads spun on the 'burnished disk of the marigold', or like a sunflower turning to meet the sun when the dark blue night is over and 'the spear of the lily is aureoled', ringed with morning light.
The third stanza closes the distance between them. Her 'sweet red lips' are now on the speaker's own, and they burn like the ruby flame in 'the swinging lamp of a crimson shrine'. The comparisons grow richer and more violent: the 'bleeding wounds of the pomegranate', and the heart of a lotus soaked with 'the spilt-out blood of the rose-red wine'. The poem ends inside that kiss.
Characters
The woman at the keys
The beloved in gold
The only figure the poem describes, seen in three parts: her 'ivory hands' playing 'a fitful fantasy', her 'gold hair' against the golden wall, and her 'sweet red lips'. She is never named or heard; she exists as colour, movement and, at the end, a kiss.
The speaker
The watching lover
The observer who records the woman's hands and hair in a chain of 'like' and 'or' comparisons. He enters the poem only in the final stanza, where her lips are on 'these lips of mine' and his images turn to fire, wounds and wine.
Themes
A harmony of colours
The subtitle 'A Harmony' names a word that painters and musicians share, and the poem is arranged like a picture in three tones. Stanza one is white and silver: 'ivory hands', 'ivory keys', 'silver gleam', pale leaves and foam. Stanza two is gold: 'gold hair', 'wall of gold', marigold, sunflower, the 'aureoled' lily. Stanza three is red: 'ruby fire', 'crimson shrine', pomegranate and 'rose-red wine'.
From looking to touching
The speaker is absent from the first two stanzas, which simply observe the woman's hands and hair. Only in the last stanza does he appear, with 'her sweet red lips on these lips of mine'. The images warm as he comes closer, from cool silver leaves and foam to fire, a burning lamp and spilt wine, so that the poem's colour scheme also traces the growth of desire.
Beauty with an edge
Even the gentlest comparisons carry a hint of danger. The sea foam comes 'When the waves show their teeth', the lily has a 'spear', and the final stanza is full of wounds and blood: 'the bleeding wounds of the pomegranate' and 'the spilt-out blood of the rose-red wine'. The kiss is set in 'a crimson shrine', so passion is pictured as both worship and injury.
Quotes
Context
'In the Gold Room' appears in the 'Flowers of Gold' section of Wilde's collected poems and carries the subtitle 'A Harmony'. It has three six-line stanzas, each devoted to one feature of the woman and one dominant colour, and each built from a string of comparisons drawn from nature and worship. The poem names no one and gives no place beyond the golden room of its title.
About this edition
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