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a portrait from memory.
For grief will dim, sin leaves a stain
Which brightest eyes must still retain:
But hers are cloudless, clear, and bright,
Like angel eyes, all love, all light.
Which brightest eyes must still retain:
But hers are cloudless, clear, and bright,
Like angel eyes, all love, all light.
A rosy fan hung from her wrist
(A white flower by a loory kissed),
And round her fair throat's graceful curve
Were coral beads, whose hue might serve
To match the full lips—ripe and sweet.
So noble, perfect, and complete
Her beauty; yet she wears it calm,
As queens their crown, as saints their palm.
(A white flower by a loory kissed),
And round her fair throat's graceful curve
Were coral beads, whose hue might serve
To match the full lips—ripe and sweet.
So noble, perfect, and complete
Her beauty; yet she wears it calm,
As queens their crown, as saints their palm.
Such was the vision once I saw—
Peerless, without a fleck or flaw,
'Mid blossoms faint and trembling trees
All fluttering in the soft south breeze.
The passionate air breathed forth desire,
Adoring nature glowed with fire,
And love weighed down the drooping flowers,
And murmured through the bird-full bowers.
Its pulse was felt as sunbeams came
And scorched the garden as with flame.
Peerless, without a fleck or flaw,
'Mid blossoms faint and trembling trees
All fluttering in the soft south breeze.
The passionate air breathed forth desire,
Adoring nature glowed with fire,
And love weighed down the drooping flowers,
And murmured through the bird-full bowers.
Its pulse was felt as sunbeams came
And scorched the garden as with flame.
