"TO VIRGINIA CARRASQUEDO.
"Not hers are her graces;
To gods they belong I
From Venus her charms;
Love lent her his arms;
The Muse who presides
Over harmony's tides
Hath shared with her gladly the sceptre of song!
Morales, the master,
Doth list and rejoice.
Says: 'More than Ulysses'
My fear and my bliss is:
He heard but the ringing
Of sirens' sweet singing;
I know the full charm of Virginia's voice.'"
A particularly graceful expression runs through the next lines:—
"TO VALENTINA GOMEZ FARIAS.
"If he should chant thy wondrous grace.
Dumb would the singer's music be,
If he should strive to picture thee.
Never a line could artist trace.
For of a soul so pure as thine.
How could the semblance e'er be true,
If the glad brush that painted you
Had not been dipped in tints divine.
Or if the poet's lyre had known
No tones save those of earth alone!"
