Whene'er I gaze upon thy beauteous face,
Free from the touch of all terrestrial taint,
With soft smiles haloed, like a praying saint,
A beaming scrap of Paradise's grace,
Within its charming contour I can trace
A long-lost look that memory scarce can paint—
Something ethereal and divinely faint,
That cannot appertain unto our race.

I feel that by some wondrous avatar,
Some strange metempsychosis most sublime,
Bright Aphrodite, rising from the sea,
Has gazed upon thee from her love-lit star;
And, eager to transmit her charms to time,
Has made Greek Helen breathe again in thee.

W HENE'ER I gaze upon thy beauteous face,
Free from the touch of all terrestrial taint,
With soft smiles haloed, like a praying saint,
A beaming scrap of Paradise's grace,
Within its charming contour I can trace
A long-lost look that memory scarce can paint—
Something ethereal and divinely faint,
That can not appertain unto our race.

I feel that by some wondrous avatar,
Some strange metempyschosis most sublime,
Bright Aphrodite, rising from the sea,
Has gazed upon thee from her love-lit star;
And, eager, to transmit her charms to time,
Has made Greek Helen breathe again in thee.