MADAME CALVE
Unmatched as actress, unsurpassed in song,
The heroines of the lyric stage in thee,
(Shadows most oft a world of shades among)
As creatures full of fiery life we see:
Thine own strong soul thou usest to inform
These scenic puppets with the breath of life,
So that we see them, passion-breathing, warm,
Through all the gamut of their nature's strife;
Carmen thou art, and Carmen thou alone;
All Marguerites but thine are shadows dim;
Ophelia, Messaline, Santuzza, shewn
By thee no wreck of memory can dislimn:
Yet these we feel are but a little part
Of thy so splendid gifts of mind and heart.
The heroines of the lyric stage in thee,
(Shadows most oft a world of shades among)
As creatures full of fiery life we see:
Thine own strong soul thou usest to inform
These scenic puppets with the breath of life,
So that we see them, passion-breathing, warm,
Through all the gamut of their nature's strife;
Carmen thou art, and Carmen thou alone;
All Marguerites but thine are shadows dim;
Ophelia, Messaline, Santuzza, shewn
By thee no wreck of memory can dislimn:
Yet these we feel are but a little part
Of thy so splendid gifts of mind and heart.