Some paint landscapes objectively: Trees, buildings, people, -- Cut in color against a background of white snow. Others depict only the atmosphere, which, Like an emotion, Transmutes realities into dreams, -- Though through the dreams is truth a reality. And so with faces. One paints the face with prominent features, -- Eyes piercing or aglow, Nose Roman or Grecian Mouth firm or sensuous, -- And we see and know. Another paints the subtle transitions From cheek to nostril, Brow to temple, -- The inner meaning of fleeting emotion. And both are right. For what is life but emphasis and transmition? What is life but motif and connection? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...VARIATIONS ON A THEME: ROMANCE by EDITH SITWELL THE OLD SEXTON by PARK BENJAMIN TRAFALGAR SQUARE by ROBERT SEYMOUR BRIDGES OH! WEEP FOR THOSE by GEORGE GORDON BYRON THE BATTLE OF LA PRAIRIE, 1691 by WILLIAM DOUW LIGHTHALL AN HORATIAN ODE UPON CROMWELL'S RETURN FROM IRELAND by ANDREW MARVELL |