ASPECTA MEDUSA
(FOR A DRAWING)
Andromeda, by Perseus saved and wed,
Hankered each day to see the Gorgon’s head:
Till o’er a fount he held it, bade her lean,
And mirrored in the wave was safely seen
That death she lived by.
Let not thine eyes know
Any forbidden thing itself, although
It once should save as well as kill: but be
Its shadow upon life enough for thee.
THE PASSOVER IN THE HOLY FAMILY (FOR A DRAWING) Here meet together the prefiguring day And day prefigured. ‘Eating, thou shalt stand, Feet shod, loins girt, thy road-staff in thine hand, With blood-stained door and lintel,’ — did God say By Moses’ mouth in ages passed away. And now, where this poor household doth comprise At Paschal-Feast two kindred families, — Lo! the slain lamb confronts the Lamb to slay. The pyre is piled. What agony’s crown attained, What
MARY MAGDALENE AT THE DOOR OF SIMON THE PHARISEE (FOR A DRAWING) ‘Why wilt thou cast the roses from thine hair? Nay, be thou all a rose — wreath, lips, and cheek. Nay, not this house, — that banquet-house we seek; See how they kiss and enter; come thou there. This delicate day of love we two will share Till at our ear love’s whispering night shall speak. What, sweet one, — hold’st thou still the foolish freak? Nay, when I kiss thy feet they’ll leave the