 | The poetical works of William H. C. Hosmer |  |
TO HELENA.
ON SEEING A DAGUERREOTYPE BY GABRIEL HARRISON, REPRESENTING “HELENA” AS THE GODDESS OF THE ART.
Well may the sun be sire of one like thee,Impersonation of celestial grace!
Less of divine and bright was in the face
Of new-born Venus rising from the sea.
Daughter of Light! upon thy breast appears
A star less radiant than thy lifted gaze
That seems to pierce the distance veiled in haze,
And read the riddle of the coming years.
The musing bard, in inspiration's hour,
A glimpse of nobler features never caught—
Blending the charm of deep, prophetic thought
With beauty's wild and overmastering power.
Fair pictures crowd the galleries of old,
But boast no shape of such a lustrous mould.
| The poetical works of William H. C. Hosmer | |