ON SEEING THE BUST OF THE YOUNG PRINCESS DE MONTFORT <br />(In the studio of Bartolini, at Florence). <br /> <br />SWEET marble I didst thou merely represent, <br />In lieu of her on whom our glances rest, <br />Some common loveliness,--we were content, <br />As with a modell'd beauty, well express'd; <br />But, by the very skill which makes thee seem <br />So like HER bright and intellectual face, <br />The heart is led unsatisfied to dream; <br />For sculpture cannot give the breathing grace, <br />The light which plays beneath that shadowy brow, <br />Like sunshine on the fountains of the south,-- <br />The blush which tints that cheek with roseate glow,-- <br />The smile which hovers round that angel-mouth: <br />No! such the form o'er which Pygmalion sigh'd-- <br />Too fair to be complete while SOUL was still denied!<br /><br />Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/sonnet-i-18/
