Felicia Hemans

“ Once lost, thy spirit shall revive no more.
It sleeps with those, the sons of other days,
Who fixed on thee the world's adoring gaze;
Those, blest to live, while yet thy star was high,
More blest, ere darkness quenched its beam, to die!
Yet, tho' thy faithless tutelary powers,
Have fled thy shrines, left desolate thy towers,
Still, still to thee shall nations bend their way,
Revered in ruin, sovereign in decay!
Oh! what can realms, in fame's full zenith, boast,
To match the relics of thy splendor lost! ”

“ A Hero's image to the world bequeathed;
Enshrined in thee th' imperishable ray,
Of high-souled Genius, fostered by her sway,
And bade thee teach, to ages yet unborn,
What lofty dreams were hers—who never shall return!
And mark yon group, transfix'd with many a throe,
Seal'd with the image of eternal woe:
With fearful truth, terrific power, exprest,
Thy pangs, Laocoon, agonize the breast,
And the stern combat picture to mankind,
Of suffering nature, and enduring mind.
Oh, mighty conflict! tho' his pains intense,
Distend each vein, and dart thro' every sense ”

“ For thee, bright Genius darts his living beam,
Warm o'er thy shrines the tints of Glory stream,
And forms august as natives of the sky,
Rise round each fane, in faultless majesty,
So chastely perfect, so serenely grand,
They seem creations of no mortal hand.
Ye, at whose voice, fair Art, with eagle glance,
Burst in full splendor from her deathlike trance;
Whose rallying call bade slumb'ring nations wake,
And daring Intellect his bondage break ”

“ Glow in rich sunshine, gleam thro' melting shade,
Float in light grace, in awful greatness tower,
And breathe and move, the records of your power.
Inspired of Heaven! what heightened pomp ye cast,
O'er all the deathless trophies of the past!
Round many a marble fane and classic dome,
Asserting still the majesty of Rome;
Round many a work that bids the world believe,
What Grecian Art could image and achieve ”

“ To freeze each pulse, and dart thro' every vein,
Cold thrills of fear, keen sympathies of pain;
Yet teach the spirit how its lofty power,
May brave the pangs of Fate's severest hour!
Turn from such conflicts, and enraptur'd gaze,
On scenes where Painting all her skill displays:
Landscapes, by colouring drest in richer dyes,
More mellow'd sunshine, more unclouded skies ”

“ Quoique cette statue d'Hercule ait été maltraitée et mutilée d'une maniére étrange, se trouvant sans tête, sans bras, et sans jambes, elle est cependant encore un chef-d'œuvre aux yeux des connoisseurs; et ceux qui savent percer dans les mysteres de l'art, se la représentent dans toute sa beauté. L'Artiste en voulant représenter Hercule, a formé un corps idéal au-dessus de la nature * * * Cet Hercule paroît donc ici tel qu'il dut être lorsque purifié par le feu des foiblesses de l'humanité, il obtint l'immortalité et prit place auprès des Dieux. ”

“ Lo! where thy sons, oh Rome! a godlike train,
In imaged majesty return again!
Bards, chieftains, monarchs, tower with mien august,
O'er scenes that shrine their venerable dust.
Those forms, those features, luminous with soul,
Still o'er thy children seem to claim control ”

“ It is not, in the same manner, in the agonized limbs, or in the convulsed muscles of the Laocoon, that the secret grace of its composition resides; it is in the majestic air of the head, which has not yielded to suffering, and in the deep serenity of the forehead, which seems to be still superior to all its afflictions, and significant of a mind that cannot be subdued. ”

“ And thou, whose Eagle's towering plume unfurl'd,
Once cast its shadow o'er a vassal world,
Eternal city! round whose Curule throne,
The Lords of nations knelt, in ages flown;
Thou, whose Augustan years have left to time,
Immortal records of their glorious prime;
When deathless bards, thine Olive-shades among,
Swell'd the high raptures of heroic song ”

“ And snatch'd the Tuscan lyre from long repose,
And bade its pealing energies resound,
With power electric, through the realms around;
Oh! high in thought, magnificent in soul!
Born to inspire, enlighten, and control ”

“ Laocoon nous offre le spectacle de la nature humaine dans la plus grande douleur dont elle soit susceptible, sous l’image d'un homme qui tâche de rassembler contre elle toute la force de l'esprit. Tandis que l'excès de la souffrance enfle les muscles, et tire violemment les nerfs, le courage se montre sur le front gonflé: la poitrine s'éleve avec peine par la nécessité de la respiration, qui est également contrainte par le silence que la force de l'ame impose à la douleur qu'elle voudroit étouffer * * * * Son air est plaintif, et non criard * * *
⁠Winckelmann, ibid. ”

“ Hallowed her thoughts, and sanctified her powers.
O'er her bright scenes sublime repose she threw,
As all around the Godhead's presence knew,
And robed the Holy One's benignant mien,
in beaming mercy, majesty serene.
Oh! mark, where Raphael's pure and perfect line
Pourtrays that form ineffably divine!
6 [6] Where with transcendent skill his hand has shed
Diffusive sunbeams round the Saviour's head ”