After Our Likeness

Before me now a little picture lies-

A little shadow of a childish face,

Childishly sweet, yet with the dawning grace

Of thought and wisdom on her lips and eyes.

Fair, oval, broad-brow’d face-small, delicate head-

Transparent skin, with blue veins shining through-

All the soft outlines, beautiful and true,

Bring me the echo of the words “God said.”

Made “in our image”-sure ’tis that we see,

God’s likeness, in the fair face of a child,

By the world’s sin and passion undefiled-

Ay, as I look, it seems quite plain to me.

The light wherein the little features shine,

Strange, mystic light, so undefined and faint,

So far too pure for any words to paint-

‘Tis a reflection of the Face divine.

Some day the earthly shadows will be cast

Across that sunshine-it may be to dim

Awhile the visible countenance of Him;

But ’twill be there-the likeness-to the last.

Some day the lucid waters, in which lie

Pictured those glorious lineaments, will be

Stirred up and troubled like a stormy sea;-

But they will yet re-settle-by-and-by.

They will re-settle when the soul is still’d,

Its passions, its wild longings, and its pain;

The pure reflection will shine out again

When earth’s hopes are relinquish’d, unfulfill’d.

They will re-settle in those after-years

When life’s hard lessons have been conned and learn’d;

When this child’s beauty will have all return’d,

More lovely for the trouble and the tears.

They will re-settle in the calm of death,

When the sweet eyes are laid asleep, and when

The heart is hush’d. Truly God’s likeness then-

The mirror clear, unsullied by a breath.

Ah! while I look, and trace each tender line,

I think most of the day when I shall see

The dear face in that perfect purity,

Its mortal features clothed with the divine.

This self-same face, but with the image bright,

Nevermore undefined, and faint, and dim;

This self-same face, yet like the face of Him,

In glory and in beauty infinite.

Poetry Monster – Home

A few random poems:

External links

Bat’s Poetry Page – more poetry by Fledermaus

Talking Writing Monster’s Page –

Batty Writing – the bat’s idle chatter, thoughts, ideas and observations, all original, all fresh

Poems in English 

• England! The Time Is Come When Thou Should’st Wean by William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth
• Emperors And Kings, How Oft Have Temples Rung by William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth
• Ellen Irwin Or The Braes Of Kirtle by William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth
• Elegiac Stanzas Suggested By A Picture Of Peele Castle by William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth
• Dion [See Plutarch] by William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth
• Crusaders by William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth
• Composed While The Author Was Engaged In Writing A Tract Occasioned By The Convention Of Cintra by William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth
• Composed Upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802 by William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth
• Composed on The Eve Of The Marriage Of A Friend In The Vale Of Grasmere by William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth
• Composed Near Calais, On The Road Leading To Ardres, August 7, 1802 by William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth
• Composed In The Valley Near Dover, On The Day Of Landing by William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth
• Composed During A Storm by William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth
• Composed By The Side Of Grasmere Lake 1806 by William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth
• Composed By The Sea-Side, Near Calais, August 1802 by William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth
• Composed At The Same Time And On The Same Occasion by William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth
• Composed After A Journey Across The Hambleton Hills, Yorkshire by William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth
• Characteristics Of A Child Three Years Old by William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth
• Character Of The Happy Warrior by William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth
• Calm is all Nature as a Resting Wheel. by William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth
• “Call Not The Royal Swede Unfortunate” by William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth

More external links (open in a new tab):

Russian Commerce Agency

Dealing Monster

Doska or the Board – write anything

Search engines:

Yandex – the best search engine for searches in Russian (and the best overall image search engine, in any language, anywhere)

Qwant – the best search engine for searches in French, German as well as Romance and Germanic languages.

Ecosia – a search engine that supposedly… plants trees

Duckduckgo – the real alternative and a search engine that actually works. Without much censorship or partisan politics.

Yahoo– yes, it’s still around, amazingly, miraculously, incredibly, but now it seems to be powered by Bing.

 

Parallel Translations of Poetry

Poems by Author and Category

The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works