Arts & Sciences

Enamel

by José-Maria de Heredia 1842–1905

Translated by Edward Robeson Taylor (1913) · From The Middle Age and the Renaissance

Arts & Sciences

Now take thy lamp; the oven for plaque doth glow;
Model paillon where irised colors run,
And fix with fire in the pigment dun
The sparkling powder which thy pencils know.

Wilt thou the bay or myrtle wreath bestow
On thinker, hero, prince, or love's dear one?
By what God wilt, on sky unlit by sun,
The glaucous sea-horse or scaled hydra show?

No. Rather let a sapphire orb reveal
From Ophir's warrior race some proud profile—
Thalestris, Bradamant, Penthesilea.

And that her beauty may be still more fell,
Casque her blonde locks with winged beast, and be a
Gold gorgon on her bosom's lovely swell.

MLA

Heredia, José-Maria de. “Enamel.” Translated by Edward Robeson Taylor. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/heredia/77/.

Chicago

Heredia, José-Maria de. “Enamel.” Translated by Edward Robeson Taylor. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/heredia/77/.

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