THE STATUE AND THE BUST.
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(With, leaning out of a bright blue space,
As a ghost might from a chink of sky,
The passionate pale lady's face—
As a ghost might from a chink of sky,
The passionate pale lady's face—
Eyeing ever with earnest eye
And quick-turned neck at its breathless stretch,
Some one who ever passes by—)
And quick-turned neck at its breathless stretch,
Some one who ever passes by—)
The Duke sighed like the simplest wretch
In Florence, "So, my dream escapes!
Will its record stay?" And he bade them fetch
In Florence, "So, my dream escapes!
Will its record stay?" And he bade them fetch
Some subtle fashioner of shapes—
"Can the soul, the will, die out of a man
Ere his body find the grave that gapes?
"Can the soul, the will, die out of a man
Ere his body find the grave that gapes?
"John of Douay shall work my plan,
Mould me on horseback here aloft,
Alive—(the subtle artisan!)
Mould me on horseback here aloft,
Alive—(the subtle artisan!)