Classic and Contemporary Poetry
DUDLEY SARGENT, R.A.; ON HIS DIRECTORSHIP HARVARD GYMNASIUM, by AMOS RUSSEL WELLS Poet's Biography First Line: A sargent there is who with brushes and paint Last Line: The work of one man, dudley sargent, r. A. Subject(s): Education, Physical; Sargent, Dudley Allen (1849-1924) | ||||||||
A Sargent there is who with brushes and paint Will picture a business man, scholar, or saint, In features and bearing, in soul and in phiz, Both inwardly, outwardly, just as he is. The beauties he paints, we are bound to confess, Are sadly eclipsed by the shine of their dress, And all of his pictures, precisely at par, Show mortals no better, no worse, than they are. But the Sargent we know has a loftier skill The muscles to strengthen, the hollows to fill, The bearing to dignify, eyes to illume, The face to make fair as a garden in bloom, And the soul with each quickening step to expand Into powers that fashion and guide and command, Till all of the being's least, ultimate part Is blest by our Sargent's restorative art. The pictures he paints with his dumb-bells and rings, His parallel bars and his clubs and his swings, His horses and chest-weights, trapezes and balls, Are pictures well worthy imperial halls, Not transcripts of life at its pitiful mean, Its average dullness unwholesome and lean, But glorified life that is gallant to see, Depicted as folks were intended to be. For the pictures our Sargent supremely designs Are pictures no deadening canvas confines; They are movies, such movies as never were made By the skilfulest art of theatrical trade. No Pickford or Chaplin or Fairbanks can vie With the warmth of the hand and the light of the eye, And the glow of the body and vigor of mind Displayed in the movies by Sargent designed! It is thus that our artist's high laurels are won, For fathers have blessed him for many a son, And husbands have blessed him for many a wife, The health and the joy and the stanchness of life. Some day, when the final exhibit is shown, And the work of all artists is open and known, The Judge will acclaim a delightful display, The work of one man, Dudley Sargent, R. A. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ELEGY ON ENCOUNTERING THE TROUBLE OF THE WORLD by KENNETH REXROTH A BATTLE SONG (WRITTEN IN THE WORLD WAR) by AMOS RUSSEL WELLS A BELATED MEMORIAL by AMOS RUSSEL WELLS A BIBLE LOVER'S THANKSGIVING by AMOS RUSSEL WELLS A BIT OF GOOD WORK by AMOS RUSSEL WELLS A BOY'S SUPERIORITY by AMOS RUSSEL WELLS A BUILDING SITE by AMOS RUSSEL WELLS A CAPE COD WOOD ROAD by AMOS RUSSEL WELLS A CERTAIN EDITOR by AMOS RUSSEL WELLS A CHALLENGE TO WORRY by AMOS RUSSEL WELLS |
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