STAINED and faded fresco,
Mildewed and cracked by time,
Yet through the mist of ages,
One face still shines sublime—
THE LAST SUPPER.(Fresco by Leonardo da Vinci, at Milan.)
![A](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1a/Poems_Eckley_A.jpg/55px-Poems_Eckley_A.jpg)
Mildewed and cracked by time,
Yet through the mist of ages,
One face still shines sublime—
It has shone on many a brother
Now long since dead and gone,
Who here partook his lenten fast—
That face still shining on.
Now long since dead and gone,
Who here partook his lenten fast—
That face still shining on.
'Tis the last Holy Supper,
Divine appointed, blest,
Where earthly appetite is lost
In sacramental feast.
Divine appointed, blest,
Where earthly appetite is lost
In sacramental feast.
The shadowy group is passing,
Fading away and dim,
E'en as those brothers one by one
Have passed away with time.
Fading away and dim,
E'en as those brothers one by one
Have passed away with time.
But the glory of that face,
The finger of time has past,
Nor left irreverent impress,
Where ruin has o'ercast.
The finger of time has past,
Nor left irreverent impress,
Where ruin has o'ercast.
And down the dusky cloister,
When evening shadows fall,
And cloud the faded figures
Of that fresco on the wall;
When evening shadows fall,
And cloud the faded figures
Of that fresco on the wall;
Still shines with radiance ever,
The Saviour's face sublime,
Limned by a wondrous painter,
Immortalized through time.
The Saviour's face sublime,
Limned by a wondrous painter,
Immortalized through time.