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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


ON A PICTURE OF ARMIDA AND RINALDO, WITH THE DECOY-NYMPH by CHARLES TENNYSON TURNER

First Line: DEAR IS THAT PICTURE FOR MY CHILDHOOD'S SAKE
Last Line: FAR DESTINED - FOR MY SOUL MUST EVER BE.
Subject(s): PAINTINGS AND PAINTERS;

Dear is that picture for my childhood's sake, -
The man asleep, so near to love or harm;
The winged boy, that stays Armida's arm,
The siren-girl, all hushed, lest he awake;
While, in the background of that pictured tale,
Sown with enchanted herbs, and clad with gloom,
A sombre eminence o'erlooks the vale,
A purple hill, where all my dreams found room:
'Tis strange, with how few touches of a brush,
That painter's hand supplied, in life's fresh dawn,
The mystic thoughts I loved! Sweet thoughts! deep-drawn,
Far-destined; cherished still without a blush;
Deep-drawn - from God's own founts of mystery;
Far destined - for my soul must ever be.



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