THE PAINTER'S PRAYER
"NEC ME PRAETERMITTAS, DOMINE!"
(An incident in the painting of Holman Hunt's "Light of the World.")"Nay," he said, "it is not done!
At to-morrow's set of sun
Come again, if you would see
What the finished thought may be."
Straight they went. The heavy door
On its hinges swung once more,
As within the studio dim
Eye and heart took heed of Him!
At to-morrow's set of sun
Come again, if you would see
What the finished thought may be."
Straight they went. The heavy door
On its hinges swung once more,
As within the studio dim
Eye and heart took heed of Him!
How the Presence filled the room,
Brightening all its dusky gloom!
Saints and martyrs turned their eyes
From the hills of Paradise;
Rapt in holy ecstasy,
Mary smiled her Son to see,
Letting all her lilies fall
At His feet—the Lord of all!
Brightening all its dusky gloom!
Saints and martyrs turned their eyes
From the hills of Paradise;
Rapt in holy ecstasy,
Mary smiled her Son to see,
Letting all her lilies fall
At His feet—the Lord of all!
But the painter bowed his head,
Lost in wonder and in dread,
And as at a holy shrine
Knelt before the form divine.
Lost in wonder and in dread,
And as at a holy shrine
Knelt before the form divine.
