Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Italy: Vols. XI–XIII. 1876–79.

Milan

The Last Supper

By William Wordsworth (1770–1850)

By Leonardo da Vinci, in the refectory of the Convent of Maria della Grazia, Milan.

THOUGH searching damps and many an envious flaw

Have marred this work, the calm, ethereal grace,

The love, deep-seated in the Saviour’s face,

The mercy, goodness, have not failed to awe

The elements; as they do melt and thaw

The heart of the beholder, and erase

(At least for one rapt moment) every trace

Of disobedience to the primal law.

The annunciation of the dreadful truth

Made to the Twelve survives: lip, forehead, cheek,

And hand reposing on the board in ruth

Of what it utters, while the unguilty seek

Unquestionable meanings, still bespeak

A labor worthy of eternal youth!