 | My Mind and its Thoughts, in Sketches, Fragments, and Essays |  |
213
STANZAS
TO GILBERT STUART,
ON HIS INTENDED PORTRAIT OF MRS. H. THE BEAUTIFUL WIFE OF ONE OF THE NAVAL HEROES OF THE U. S.
Stuart! I charge thy genius, try
To catch the enchantment of that eye.
Let HER, the fairest of the fair,
The myrtle wreath of beauty wear,
While round HER HAPPY HERO'S brow,
The laurels of a nation flow.
To catch the enchantment of that eye.
Let HER, the fairest of the fair,
The myrtle wreath of beauty wear,
While round HER HAPPY HERO'S brow,
The laurels of a nation flow.
Be thy creative thought obey'd,
And call to life the featured shade.
Scarce touch the cheek with dawning red,
Soft as the leaf from roses shed;
But for the deeper lip prepare,
The rubied bud which ripens there.
And call to life the featured shade.
Scarce touch the cheek with dawning red,
Soft as the leaf from roses shed;
214
The rubied bud which ripens there.
That neck with clustering curls entwine,
Make all its pearly treasures thine.
Since never to thy critic eyes,
May there an earthly equal rise.
I charge thy genius, let it be,
Reflecting HER, and speaking THEE.
Make all its pearly treasures thine.
Since never to thy critic eyes,
May there an earthly equal rise.
I charge thy genius, let it be,
Reflecting HER, and speaking THEE.
| My Mind and its Thoughts, in Sketches, Fragments, and Essays | |