 | Jones Very : The Complete Poems |  |
53
The Portrait
Would I might stay those features as they pass,Where beauty seems as if she loved to dwell;
And chain that smile upon the fickle glass,
That smile whose sweetness words in vain would tell;
Or fix thy glance with all its heaven of blue,
The evening star that floats its azure through!
But no—the spot where I would bid them rest
Is all unworthy they should linger there;
The blush of morn on Ocean's slumbering breast,
The star bright-imaged in its depths of air
Vanish from off its bosom like thy smile,
That rests but on so frail a thing awhile,
Then seeks a home whence it may ne'er depart,
The faithful mirror of a loving heart.
Poem No. 852; c. late 1836–early 1837
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