ASPECTA MEDUSA (FOR A DRAWING)

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.