by Charles Harpur
A Genius caged in niceties of art;
A full-souled Bard that should have thought apart,
Creatively peculiar-not as taught
By models which (though rare and richly wrought,
As polished jewels set in chastened gold)
Have lost at length their birth-fire, and are cold.
Yet how shot through with beauty are the Lays
His nice hand fashioned for the after days!
Painting and Sculpture in his verse combine
With Poesy; and breathing through each line
In harmonised transfusion, they dispense
The spirit of a triune excellence.
Last updated January 14, 2019