Upon Seeing a Portrait of a Lady, Painted by Giovanni C. Thompson

There is a sweetness in those upturn'd eyes,
A tearful lustre — such as fancy lends
To the Madonna — and a soft surprise,
As if they saw strange beauty in the air;
Perchance a bird, whose little pinion bends
To the same breeze that lifts that flowing hair.
And, O, that lip, and cheek, and forehead fair,
Reposing on the canvass! — that bright smile,
Casting a mellow radiance over all!
Say, didst thou strive, young artist, to beguile
The gazer of his reason, and to thrall
His every sense in meshes of delight —
When thou,unconscious,mad'st this phantom bright?
Sure nothing real lives, which thus can charm the sight!