You who love music and comprehend All the pomps and triumphs of sound, Deign you to follow me, critical friend, Into my span of enchanted ground? An infinite sky where the sun has set, A chamber of shadow and after-glow, Against the window @3en silhouette@1 A model for Fra Angelico, A slim girl-form, a delicate pose, A downcast head, a glory of hair,— Often I think that such were those Who climbed the visioned Ladder of Prayer, A soft cheek pressed to a violin, And two grave eyes that haply keep Watch for the soul of the music in The notes that follow the white arm's sweep, —Such is my vision! Oh, unto me The child and her tune are the hunger of heart, The vague sweet sorrow, the mystery, Which are the beginning and end of Art. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...PORPHYRIA'S LOVER by ROBERT BROWNING IN MEMORIAM A.H.H.: 104 by ALFRED TENNYSON MARE LIBERUM by HENRY VAN DYKE THE VOW OF WASHINGTON by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER SUMMING UP ITALY; INSCRIBED TO INTELLIGENT PUBLICS OUT OF IT by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING THE WANDERER: 5. IN HOLLAND: A GHOST STORY by EDWARD ROBERT BULWER-LYTTON OBSERVATIONS IN THE ART OF ENGLISH POESY: 13. TROCHAIC VERSE: THE NINETH EPIGRAM by THOMAS CAMPION |