Poems (Elgee, 1907)/Catarina

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CATARINA. FROM THE PORTUGUESE OF CAMOENS.
————"Um mover d'olhos brando e piadoso."————
A MOVEMENT of the soft eyes, slow and eloquent,A smile of sweet, yet of such chastened joy,'Twere easy to transform it to a tear.A gentle, timid motion, like young flowersBeneath the murmuring west wind undulating.A graceful, modest ardour—yet at timesMost grave and quiet majesty, as oneWho knows—that rarest knowledge—her own worth. ​A childlike nature, index of a soulWhere goodness is intuitive—not put onTo gain false praises for a falser virtue.A bashful softness when she tells her love—A tremour as of guilt, with low-drooped eyesAnd red-rose cheek, did not her brow serene,Like to a temple of all holy things,Forbid the thought. A patient power of sufferance,Enduring all with angel smiles of love.This, the celestial beauty of my Circé—This is the magic potion which has changedEarth and all earthly sorrows to a Heaven!

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