Dramatic Scenes With Other Poems, Now First Printed. By Barry Cornwall [i.e. Bryan Waller Procter]. Illustrated |
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THE PICTURE. |
 | Dramatic Scenes |  |
286
THE PICTURE.
Underneath yon antique frame,
(Carved, observe, by dextrous hands,)
All apart from meaner things,
The thousand-guinea panel stands.
(Carved, observe, by dextrous hands,)
All apart from meaner things,
The thousand-guinea panel stands.
Once, in the great old Moro palace,
When the sunset evening bloom
Flushed the Adriatic waters,
It lit up the golden room.
When the sunset evening bloom
Flushed the Adriatic waters,
It lit up the golden room.
Strangers, all who thronged to see it,
Vowed the soldier's coal-black eyes
Burned beneath the lady's beauty,
Glowing there with sweet surprise.
Vowed the soldier's coal-black eyes
Burned beneath the lady's beauty,
Glowing there with sweet surprise.
From his earnest gaze she looks;
Yet the passionate words she hears;
As when we fix our eyes on books
We hear a tender talker's tears:
Yet the passionate words she hears;
As when we fix our eyes on books
We hear a tender talker's tears:
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And, note well his tremulous mouth,
Her proud sweet smile, patrician skin;
And her eyes that front your eyes,
Reading every thought within.
Her proud sweet smile, patrician skin;
And her eyes that front your eyes,
Reading every thought within.
What a light is on her forehead,
Shooting forwards from the dark!
How the hues of queenly crimson
All her swelling beauty mark!
Shooting forwards from the dark!
How the hues of queenly crimson
All her swelling beauty mark!
And the streaks of rich Sienna
That embrown his visage dun;
And the gold upon her tresses,
Blazing like the western sun.
That embrown his visage dun;
And the gold upon her tresses,
Blazing like the western sun.
—Read and ponder, gentle Maiden:
And, within this circle, see
All that was, when Love was master,
All that is, and is to be;
And, within this circle, see
All that was, when Love was master,
All that is, and is to be;
Beauty, conquering and conquered;
Strength, all strength and fame forgot;
Pride subdued; Love, Truth triumphant:—
(Ah, what learner knows them not!)
Strength, all strength and fame forgot;
Pride subdued; Love, Truth triumphant:—
(Ah, what learner knows them not!)
And, besides these truths, 'tis whispered
That within this picture lies
The painter's story, when sublimed
He rose with Love into the skies.
That within this picture lies
The painter's story, when sublimed
He rose with Love into the skies.
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What names they had—these shapes we look on—
Whether, constrained, they fled of yore,
Far away, to Isle enchanted,
Idling on some faëry shore;
Whether, constrained, they fled of yore,
Far away, to Isle enchanted,
Idling on some faëry shore;
Or in dark and toilsome cities,
Or within some sparry cell,
In a sunset wilderness,
Loved their lives out,—none can tell.
Or within some sparry cell,
In a sunset wilderness,
Loved their lives out,—none can tell.
But our dreams, which lift the Future
And the Present into light,
Give unto the Past a glory
That leaves the lovers' fortunes bright.
And the Present into light,
Give unto the Past a glory
That leaves the lovers' fortunes bright.
| Dramatic Scenes | |