 | Poems (1905) |  |
[ON] A DRAWING, BY THE HON. MRS SMITH (ELIZA FORRESTER).
When we behold a Landscape well designed,
Our praise at once we on the Work bestow;
We see the image of so just a Mind,
And 'tis the Merit, not the Man, we know.
Our praise at once we on the Work bestow;
We see the image of so just a Mind,
And 'tis the Merit, not the Man, we know.
But when we learn from where our Pleasure springs,
And whose the Skill that here the Proof has placed:
This to our Mind a double Pleasure brings,
For 'tis Affection looks as well as Taste.
And whose the Skill that here the Proof has placed:
This to our Mind a double Pleasure brings,
For 'tis Affection looks as well as Taste.
They who have Wealth may hire an Artist's Hand.
And may the Gallery and the Hall supply;
But Love alone can Views like this command:
Affection gives what Wealth can never buy.
And may the Gallery and the Hall supply;
But Love alone can Views like this command:
Affection gives what Wealth can never buy.
Pictures and Prints the Wealthy may obtain
And, as their Pleasure dictates, may remove;
But these fair Views for ever shall remain,
The rich Memorials of Taste and Love.
And, as their Pleasure dictates, may remove;
But these fair Views for ever shall remain,
The rich Memorials of Taste and Love.
These flowing lines confess Eliza's Hand;
She formed the Wood, the Water, and the Sky;
For she can all the pleasing arts command
That soothe the Fancy and that charm the Eye.
She formed the Wood, the Water, and the Sky;
For she can all the pleasing arts command
That soothe the Fancy and that charm the Eye.
All the fair Arts that give a Grace to Life
Are hers: she sings, she speaks, she moves with Grace;
Nor charms she less, the Mother and the Wife,
And still maintains the Virtues of her Race.
Are hers: she sings, she speaks, she moves with Grace;
Nor charms she less, the Mother and the Wife,
And still maintains the Virtues of her Race.
Happy the fair Possessor of that Skill—
When Life's Endowment, but not Life's Employ;
When used for Pleasure and resigned at Will,
The aid of Home-felt and domestic Joy!
When Life's Endowment, but not Life's Employ;
When used for Pleasure and resigned at Will,
The aid of Home-felt and domestic Joy!
| Poems (1905) | |