Classic Poem

ON A PORTRAIT .

That ancient thief, who stole Jove's vital flame,
And filled with genial life th' unbreathing clay,
Stole but the fire , as classic records say,
For his own hands fashion'd the senseless frame; —
But thou hast stolen all! That eye divine
Doth ravish Venus now of half her praise,
And Pallas owned such brow, in ancient days,
Where mind reposed on forehead so benign; —
And all that beauty ever had here lives,
Laughing Aurora on those lips of mirth,
And Hyacinth his flowing ringlets gives, —
But oh, the soul that's here! Never hath earth
Such spiritual beauty to her daughters given;
This stamps the theft, — that soul of thought belongs to Heaven!