Romney, expert infallibly to trace <br />On chart of canvas, not the form alone <br />And semblance, but, however faintly shown, <br />The mind's impression too on every face; <br />With strokes that time ought never to cease <br />Thou hast so pencilled mine, that though I own <br />The subject worthless, I have never known <br />The artist shining with superior grace. <br />But this I mark, -- that symptoms none of woe <br />In thy incomparable work appear. <br />Well -- I am satisfied it should be so, <br />Since, on maturer thought, the cause is clear <br />For in my looks what sorrow couldst thou see, <br />When I was Hayley's guest, and sat to thee?<br /><br />William Cowper<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/sonnet-to-george-romney-esq-on-his-picture-of-me-in-crayons/
