14×17″ colored pencil and pen on paper
June 8, 2012
Inspired by Within and Without by George MacDonald, specifically the following passage:
And weep not, though the Beautiful decay
Within thy heart, as daily in thine eyes;
Thy heart must have its autumn, its pale skies,
Leading, mayhap, to winter’s dim dismay.
Yet doubt not. Beauty doth not pass away;
Her form departs not, though her body dies.
Secure beneath the earth the snowdrop lies,
Waiting the spring’s young resurrection-day,
Through the kind nurture of the winter cold.
Nor seek thou by vain effort to revive
The summer-time, when roses were alive;
Do thou thy work–be willing to be old:
Thy sorrow is the husk that doth infold
A gorgeous June, for which thou need’st not strive.
