Correggio; A Tragedy (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: ACT THE THIRD. Sceitce as before. Aktokio (discovered, looking at his picture). It only wants the varnish now. The veil Is too transparent yet. Oh, that I might Withdraw this from the gaze of all the world! The other picture is not half so good. It is not surely honest to accept So large a sum for such inferior work ? But yet his lordship chose it for himself, And named the price without a word from me. I told him at the time it was too much. (takes wp his brush.) Now will I paint a little hyacinth Into the grass. When lovely maidens die, Men scatter simple flowers upon their tombs. My hope, that was so lovely?it is dead. So then, in tribute of a sad farewell, I'll plant one flower,?and then How shall I live, When I can paint no longer ? It has grown As needful to me now, as life itself. Well, I will toil the whole long week-days through For wife and child,?ay, with my hands I'll toil! But Sunday morning still shall be my own. Yes, then shall Iris, blooming as of yore, With her aerial bow of sevenfold hues, Descend to greet me at the early dawn. Then will I draw, and colour, and invent For mine own pastime. Any way it is A blameless pleasure. In my home I'll hang The little pictures. They at least will serve To decorate the walls. Maria loves them, So does my little boy; and when I die, And some stray pilgrim, wandering here, shall see The rich-hued canvas hanging on the walls, The sight will touch him ;?all are not so hard As this great Angelo?and he will say, High aspirations had this man at least, And loved his art in pure sincerity. Jraio Komano (enters, lut keeps at some distance, contemplating Ajsttonio unobserved). There sits the Muse's favourite ! He paints Another picture, which will w...