Classic Poem

TO A PAINTER ATTEMPTING DELIA'S PORTRAIT .

Rash Painter! canst thou give the ORB OF DAY
In all its noontide glory? or portray
The DIAMOND , that athwart the taper'd hall
Flings the rich flashes of its dazzling light?
Even if thine art could boast such magic might ,
Yet if it strove to paint my Angel's EYE ,
Here it perforce must fail. Cease! lest I call
Heaven's vengeance on thy sin . Must thou be told
The CRIME it is to paint DIVINITY ?
Rash Painter! should the world her charms behold,
Dim and defiled, as there they needs must be,
They to their old idolatry would fall,
And bend before her form the pagan knee,
Fairer than V ENUS, DAUGHTER OF THE SEA .