 | Sonnets and Other Poems Chiefly Religious |  |
65
PYGMALION.
The sculptor's task is ended:
He casts his tools aside,
To gaze upon his perfect work
In all an artist's pride.
He casts his tools aside,
To gaze upon his perfect work
In all an artist's pride.
For many a year his spirit,
In visioned solitude,
O'er bright creations of his brain
Would, like a lover, brood;
In visioned solitude,
O'er bright creations of his brain
Would, like a lover, brood;
For many a year he laboured
To give his haunting thought
Of pure ideal loveliness,
A form in sculpture wrought;
To give his haunting thought
Of pure ideal loveliness,
A form in sculpture wrought;
And now it smiles upon him,
Serene in marble rest;
Lovelier than aught of earth—a shape
For islands of the blest.
Serene in marble rest;
Lovelier than aught of earth—a shape
For islands of the blest.
And he, who never sighed for
Nor wooed a living maid,
But pondered on unreal charms
In heavenly light arrayed,
Nor wooed a living maid,
But pondered on unreal charms
In heavenly light arrayed,
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Gazing on this creation
Of his own raptured mind,
Where every charm of form and soul
Appears in one combined—
Of his own raptured mind,
Where every charm of form and soul
Appears in one combined—
The purity of childhood,
A flower's soft bending grace,
The glory of a muse inspired,
A dovelike gentleness,
A flower's soft bending grace,
The glory of a muse inspired,
A dovelike gentleness,
A sibyl's holy grandeur—
All mingling in the gleam
Of vague delight that overcomes
A maid in love's first dream,
All mingling in the gleam
Of vague delight that overcomes
A maid in love's first dream,
Now feels his bosom burning
With all-unwonted fires,
And to the Powers that rule in Heaven
His soul in prayer aspires;—
With all-unwonted fires,
And to the Powers that rule in Heaven
His soul in prayer aspires;—
“Oh, hear me, ye immortals
Enthroned above, if e'er
Your steadfast counsels may be moved
By human wish or prayer!
Enthroned above, if e'er
Your steadfast counsels may be moved
By human wish or prayer!
“Oh, breathe a living spirit
Into the ice-cold stone;
Grant it a human voice and heart
To answer to my own!”
Into the ice-cold stone;
Grant it a human voice and heart
To answer to my own!”
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And at his prayer the marble
Begins with life to glow:
The cheeks, like rose-leaves, gently blush;
The locks turn dark, and flow
Begins with life to glow:
The cheeks, like rose-leaves, gently blush;
The locks turn dark, and flow
In waves of raven blackness
Like clouds of lingering night,
O'ershadowing a forehead fair
And clear as morning's light;
Like clouds of lingering night,
O'ershadowing a forehead fair
And clear as morning's light;
And large dark eyes, as brilliant
And pure as starry rays,
Reveal a living woman's soul
To his enraptured gaze.
And pure as starry rays,
Reveal a living woman's soul
To his enraptured gaze.
Sunlike, she shines upon him
With radiant smiling face,
And gives him back the kiss of love,
And answers his embrace.
With radiant smiling face,
And gives him back the kiss of love,
And answers his embrace.
Their hearts together beating
With joy and love and pride,
She from her pedestal descends,
To be the sculptor's bride.
With joy and love and pride,
She from her pedestal descends,
To be the sculptor's bride.
| Sonnets and Other Poems Chiefly Religious | |