Page:Vision of Giorgione, Bottomley, 1910.djvu/22

A CONCERT OF GIORGIONE Art is a piece of life for once transfigured

In its own light set free; a condition of rest.

There are two whispering girls down on the bridge,

Large-shawled, with a dark pulpy film of breath

Between their cheeks And there 's the wonderful girl

I saw one night play with a curling flower;

If I might make her lean upon a cushion

And listen to four strange pitiless words

I should feel the high and transitory hand

Whose right brush-strokes, passing, leave a soul,

I 'd enter paradise to repeat her mouth,

And leave her for a Fate on men for ever.

Set in rich greys; colour is sentiment

Some meritorious sunset-piece may ruin;

But in true tones the fadeless colour vibrates.

PARIS

She smiles to sweet Parise with the trailing hair,

A very fingered lady who shows thumb-marks

Where many men have skipped her pages.

GIORGIONE

So do the high unconscious Fates—we smile.

PARIS

Your gamba needs a string before they come.

GIORGIONE

And stroke the enamelled surface with old silk—

When I reach the high frets I must surmise 4