161
A PORTRAIT FROM MEMORY.
1868.
A Persian princess, tall and fair,
With lustrous lengths of amber hair,
A lovely, tender, small child's face,
A floating step, a queenly grace,
A lily robe, all striped and barred
With lines of gold, and diapered
With black, as once Venetian dames
Wore, and yet wear, within the frames
Of Bonifazio, Tintoret,
And glorious Titian (jewels set
On palace walls within that shrine
Vowed to Thalassa the Divine,
Which men call Venice); two grey eyes,
With liquid, subtle, flatteries
For all they look on; frank, serene,
Pure from all grief, or care, or sin;
With lustrous lengths of amber hair,
A lovely, tender, small child's face,
A floating step, a queenly grace,
A lily robe, all striped and barred
With lines of gold, and diapered
With black, as once Venetian dames
Wore, and yet wear, within the frames
Of Bonifazio, Tintoret,
And glorious Titian (jewels set
On palace walls within that shrine
Vowed to Thalassa the Divine,
Which men call Venice); two grey eyes,
With liquid, subtle, flatteries
For all they look on; frank, serene,
Pure from all grief, or care, or sin;
