Page:Poems, Emerson, 1847.djvu/204

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

192

LOSS AND GAIN.


Virtue runs before the Muse,
And defies her skill;
She is rapt, and doth refuse
To wait a painter's will.


Star-adoring, occupied,
Virtue cannot bend her
Just to please a poet's pride,
To parade her splendor.


The bard must be with good intent
No more his, but hers;
Must throw away his pen and paint,
Kneel with worshippers.