University of Virginia Library

AT FLORENCE—BEFORE THE “VENUS DE MEDICI.”

Bless'd was the soul to which this marble thought,
In its still perfectness, by God was given,
Which stood translated then from earth to heaven,
Up to the Gods' high courts an instant caught,
By strong desire of that for which it sought,
The immortal grace for which its thought had striven.
And, lo! the veiling clouds a moment riven,
He, to our eyes, eternal beauty brought,
The radiance of this glory, to all time.
There stands she with the eyes that ruined Troy;
There looks she as she press'd hush'd Ida's thyme,
And smiled to love and death the Dardan boy,
Earth's beauty perfected to grace sublime,
The Queen of all the fulness of all joy.