Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ON GETTING HOME THE PORTRAIT OF A FEMALE CHILD; BY EUGENIO LATILLA, by THOMAS CAMPBELL


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ON GETTING HOME THE PORTRAIT OF A FEMALE CHILD; BY EUGENIO LATILLA, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Type of the cherubim above
Last Line: Back, -- and alive, unchanged, -- to heaven!
Subject(s): Latilla, Eugenio (1808-1861); Paintings & Painters


TYPE of the Cherubim above,
Come, live with me, and be my love!
Smile from my wall, dear roguish sprite,
By sunshine and by candle-light;
For both look sweetly on thy traits:
Or, were the Lady-Moon to gaze,
She'd welcome thee with lustre bland,
Like some young fay from Fairy-Land.
Cast in simplicity's own mould,
How canst thou be so manifold
In sportively distracting charms?
Thy lips -- thine eves -- thy little arms
That wrap thy shoulders and thy head
In homeliest shawl of netted thread,
Brown woollen net-work; yet it seeks
Accordance with thy lovely cheeks,
And more becomes thy beauty's bloom
Than any shawl from Cashmere's loom.

Thou hast not, to adorn thee, girl,
Flower, link of gold, or gem, or pearl --
I would not let a ruby speck
The peeping whiteness of thy neck.
Thou need'st no casket, witching elf,
No gawd -- thy toilet is thyself;
Not ev'n a rose-bud from the bower --
Thyself a magnet -- gem, and flower.

My arch and playful little creature,
Thou hast a mind in every feature;
Thy brow, with its disparted locks,
Speaks language that translation mocks:
Thy lucid eyes so beam with soul,
They on the canvas seem to roll,
Instructing both my head and heart
To idolize the painter's art.
He marshals minds to Beauty's feast,
He is Humanity's high priest,
Who proves, by heavenly forms on earth,
How much this world of ours is worth.
Inspire me, child, with visions fair!
For children, in Creation, are
The only things that could be given
Back, -- and alive, unchanged, -- to Heaven!





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net