The Oxford Book of Canadian Verse
My MadonnaRobert William Service (18741958)
I
Shameless, but, oh, so fair!
I bade her sit in the model’s seat,
And I painted her sitting there.
I painted a babe at her breast;
I painted her as she might have been
If the Worst had been the Best.
Then came, with a knowing nod,
A connoisseur, and I heard him say:
‘’Tis Mary, the Mother of God.’
And I sold her, and took my fee,
And she hangs in the church of Saint Hilaire,
Where you and all may see.