 | Miscellaneous poems |  |
97
ON Seeing a Friend's Picture.
By the Same.
The pleasing Aspect, and the Front serene,
The comely Stature, and the graceful Mien,
Shall, taught to live by H---'s artful Hand,
In Bloom perennial on the Canvas stand.
Ah! how unlike the Frailty of the Clay,
That while the Colours ripen, melts away;
While the same Course of Time with equal Strife,
Improves the Picture, and impairs the Life.
The comely Stature, and the graceful Mien,
Shall, taught to live by H---'s artful Hand,
In Bloom perennial on the Canvas stand.
Ah! how unlike the Frailty of the Clay,
That while the Colours ripen, melts away;
98
Improves the Picture, and impairs the Life.
The present Likeness then to what avails?
Too soon, Alas! the faint Resemblance fails.
Some few Years hence, when weighty Cares shall bend,
And hoary Age sit freezing o'er my Friend,
The Blood shall mantle in his Cheek no more,
And Wrinkles rise where Dimples lay before;
The Leg shall tremble, and the Shoulder bow,
While the warm'd Canvas glows as bright as now;
And Men, surpriz'd, shall see the Piece declare,
Such were his Features once, and such his Aire.
And thence the Meanness of our Nature see,
Since Shadows boast more Permanence than we.
Too soon, Alas! the faint Resemblance fails.
Some few Years hence, when weighty Cares shall bend,
And hoary Age sit freezing o'er my Friend,
The Blood shall mantle in his Cheek no more,
And Wrinkles rise where Dimples lay before;
The Leg shall tremble, and the Shoulder bow,
While the warm'd Canvas glows as bright as now;
And Men, surpriz'd, shall see the Piece declare,
Such were his Features once, and such his Aire.
And thence the Meanness of our Nature see,
Since Shadows boast more Permanence than we.
| Miscellaneous poems | |