THE ANGEL OF THE JASMINE WREATH

(From a picture by Botticelli, of the Madonna and Child with Angels,—in the Borghese Gallery)

Ineffable angel, with the jasmine wreathed,

Wherefrom the sweetness over brow and lips,

And luminous white eyelids tremulously slips,

A visible essence from thy beauty breathed,—

The pure and pensive marvel of thy face is sheathed

In tresses softer than the bloom of night,

Wherefrom the dampness on thy forehead drips

With dews from out God's meadows infinite,—