James John Garth Wilkinson (1812–1899)

HE works in rings, in magic rings of chance;

He knows that grand effects oft run askance,

And so he prays to Nature, color-queen.

*****

He works in chaoses,—you are no artist,

You medium-man who power to write impartest;

Suffice to know he loveth Chaos old,

Because than aught created she’s more bold:

And so he worketh ruleless, not to fix,

And freeze and stiffen, but to weld and mix,

That many elements thus got together

May struggle into light.—

And she loves possibility, and hence

He goes far back into Confusion’s dance.

So the old Temeraire, (ah England! long

That happiness shall live within thy song.)

Lets natural ways rush through him; so may you,

If you have brain and strength and dare to do.

Believe me, there are ways of painting things

That are allied to the great Morning’s wings.