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IX. ON A PORTRAIT OF MRS. NORTON.
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155

IX.
ON A PORTRAIT OF MRS. NORTON.

Oh, who can meet those dark and liquid eyes,
And see that form so queenlike in its grace,
Nor feel a thrill of passionate surprise
That men could mingle shame with such a face?
Did they behold thee who the slander nursed?
Communed they ever with thy tender lays?
And felt they not their very manhood cursed
Beneath thine earnest and bewildering gaze?
Sweetness and pride that unto truth belong,
Through every lineament divinely steal,
And like the cadence of thy gentle song,
Pure and devoted sympathies reveal:
O radiant minstrel! Let it solace thee
That thou art warmly loved beyond the sea!