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Ideal

Suggested by a female head in wax, of unknown date, but supposed to be either of the best Greek age, or a work of Raphael or Leonardo.

It is now in the Lille Museum.

Ah, mystic child of Beauty, nameless maid,
   Dateless and fatherless, how long ago,
A Greek, with some rare sadness overweighed,
   Shaped thee, perchance, and quite forgot his woe!
   Or Raphael thy sweetness did bestow,
While magical his fingers o'er thee strayed,
   Or that great pupil taught of Verrocchio
Redeemed thy still perfection from the shade
That hides all fair things lost, and things unborn,
   Where one has fled from me, that wore thy grace,
   And that grave tenderness of thine awhile;
Nay, still in dreams I see her, but her face
   Is pale, is wasted with a touch of scorn,
   And only on thy lips I find her smile.

Literature Network » Andrew Lang » Ballads in Blue China » Ideal