Stedman and Hutchinson, comps. A Library of American Literature:
An Anthology in Eleven Volumes. 1891.
Vols. IX–XI: Literature of the Republic, Part IV., 1861–1889
Praxiteles and Phryne
By William Wetmore Story (18191895)A
The twilight faint and pale
Was drawing o’er the sunset glow
Its soft and shadowy veil;
His hand, and, turned to one
Who stood beside him, half in shade,
Said, with a sigh, “’Tis done.
That waits for me and thee;
Thus much—how little!—from the range
Of Death and Destiny.
Thy rounded limbs decay,—
Nor love nor prayers can aught avail
To bid thy beauty stay;
On marble lips shall live,—
For Art can grant what love denies,
And fix the fugitive.
The youth of this cold bust;
When this quick brain and hand that made
And thou and I are dust!
And both our hearts are cold,
And love is like a tune that’s played,
And life a tale that’s told,
That love nor life can warm,
The same enchanting look shall wear,
The same enchanting form.
Its beauty age shall spare
The bitterness of vanished joy,
The wearing waste of care.
Shall unborn ages see
Perennial youth, perennial grace,
And sealed serenity.
Shall say, not quite unmoved,
So smiled upon Praxiteles
The Phryne whom he loved.”