Romney is an expert and can trace "The mind's impression too on every face"
— Cowper, William (1731-1800)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Date
1835-7
Metaphor
Romney is an expert and can trace "The mind's impression too on every face"
Metaphor in Context
Romney, expert infallibly to trace
On chart or canvass, not the form alone
And semblance, but, however faintly shown,
The mind's impression too on every face;
With strokes that time ought never to erase
Thou hast so pencil'd mine, that though I own
The subject worthless, I have never known
The artist shining with superior grace.
But this I mark,--that symptoms none of woe
In thy incomparable work appear.
Well--I am satisfied it should be so,
Since, on maturer thought, the cause is clear;
For in my looks what sorrow couldst thou see
When I was Hayley's guest, and sat to thee?
On chart or canvass, not the form alone
And semblance, but, however faintly shown,
The mind's impression too on every face;
With strokes that time ought never to erase
Thou hast so pencil'd mine, that though I own
The subject worthless, I have never known
The artist shining with superior grace.
But this I mark,--that symptoms none of woe
In thy incomparable work appear.
Well--I am satisfied it should be so,
Since, on maturer thought, the cause is clear;
For in my looks what sorrow couldst thou see
When I was Hayley's guest, and sat to thee?
Categories
Provenance
Searching in HDIS (Poetry)
Theme
Physiognomy
Date of Entry
05/15/2005
