Poems in The Court Journal during the year 1835 by Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L. E. L.)/The Portrait of L. E. L.
The Court Journal, 7th November 1835, pages 705-706
ON FIRST SEEING THE PORTRAIT OF L. E. L.
"Is this the face that fired a thousand ships,
And burned the topless towers of Ilium?
Sweet Helen!"Marlowe
Ah! no, not Helen; Hel—e—n
Of old—but L. E. L.;
Those letters which the spell-bound pen
Have vainly sought to spell.
Not Helen, who so long ago
Set Paris in a blaze,
But one who laid proud London low,
And lit up later days.
Is this your meaning, mystic Three!
Handwriting on Fame's wall!
Ye thrice fair letters, can ye be
A lady, after all!
How have I wondered what ye meant,
Ye alphabetic Graces!
And so you really represent
One of dear Nature's faces!
Well, how I've guessed! your meaning rare
No guessing seemed to touch;
Ye riddles! the weird-sisters ne'er
Be-witched me half so much.
One knows the power of D. C. L.,
The grandeur of K. G.;
And F. R. S. will science spell,
And valour, G. C. B.
The sage, the schoolboy, both can tell
The worth of L. S. D.
But then the worth of L. E. L.!
All letters told in three!
In vain. I've sought to illustrate
Each letter with a word;
’T was only trying to translate
The language of a bird.
I've read ye, L. E. L., quite bare;
Thus—Logic, Ethics, Lays:
Lines, Episodes, and Lyrics fair–
I've guessed away my days.
One wild young fancy was the sire
Of fifty following aſter—
Like these—Love, Eden, and the Lyre,
Light, Elegance, and Laughter.
I've drawn from all the stars that shine,
Interpretations silly;
From flowers:—the Lily, Eglantine—
And what?–oh! then, more Lily!
Now fancy's dead—no thought can strike,
No guess, solution, stricture;
For L. E. L. is—simply like
This dainty little picture.
Life to her Lays! However fame
'Mongst brightest names may set hers,
Those Three Initials (nameless name!)
Will never be—dead letters!
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