Portrait and Reality + 

If on the closed curtain of my sight + 

My fancy paints thy portrait far away, + 

I see thee still the same, by night or day; + 

Crossing the crowded street, or moving bright + 

‘Mid festal throngs, or reading by the light + 

Of shaded lamp some friendly poet’s lay, + 

Or shepherding the children at their play⁠— + 

The same sweet self, and my unchanged delight. + 

But when I see thee near, I recognize + 

In every dear familiar way some strange + 

Perfection, and behold in April guise + 

The magic of thy beauty that doth range + 

Through many moods with infinite surprise⁠— + 

Never the same, and sweeter with each change. + 