A REQUEST.
ADD to my household idols, one precious treasure bring;
It will o'er all the others a pleasing radiance fling;
Transfer upon the canvas his magic lip and eye,
Vividly as portraiture can with my wish comply;
Faithfully each lineament, no trait would I forego,
His counterpart, his image, the gem on me bestow;
The massive brow and temples expanding with rich thought,
The noblest the Creator has in His image wrought.
It will o'er all the others a pleasing radiance fling;
Transfer upon the canvas his magic lip and eye,
Vividly as portraiture can with my wish comply;
Faithfully each lineament, no trait would I forego,
His counterpart, his image, the gem on me bestow;
The massive brow and temples expanding with rich thought,
The noblest the Creator has in His image wrought.
And tell the gifted painter, whoe'er he chance to be,
To shadow forth the sweetness which won my heart from me;
The intellectual vigor, so dauntless and serene,
The self-absorbed expression, the marked and lofty mien;
The soft, sad, unrevealing dark eye when in repose,
Which flashes forth such brightness, that with such beauty glows;
To catch the grace of motion, the pride, and, too, the scorn;
Enchantment round the wonder throw, a dignity inborn.
To shadow forth the sweetness which won my heart from me;
The intellectual vigor, so dauntless and serene,
The self-absorbed expression, the marked and lofty mien;
The soft, sad, unrevealing dark eye when in repose,
Which flashes forth such brightness, that with such beauty glows;
To catch the grace of motion, the pride, and, too, the scorn;
Enchantment round the wonder throw, a dignity inborn.
