MY MOTHER'S PICTURE
Citation : MY MOTHER'S PICTURE. (1944, June 22). Catholic Weekly(Sydney, NSW : 1942 - 1954), p. 12. Retrieved May 31, 2015, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article146489910
Mother, your virgin beauty has compelled
The hands of masters famed adown the years;
The greatest names in art are linked with yours
In some Madonna praised on every tongue.
And I have seen them, Mother, and have sought
My Mother's eyes, her look, her very soul;
But ne'er those soft creations touched a chord
Within my heart
For Mother, they were not
Your gracious image; all too earthly was
The beauty of the women who inspired
The art immortalised on chapel walls;
To me too human was their loveliness;
In truth, I can but say, I liked them not.
One Image, Mother, is there that I think Bears faint resemblance to you.
Your sad eyes Look tenderly upon me from its frame;
Reproach — so gentle, love, forgiveness, care,
I read in your dear face. And then I see
That you have suffered for me, Mother, and
I look away in shame.
An image old —
Our Lady of Perpetual Help — It seems
To break all canons of the painter's art:
Too gaudy, some have said, too crudely made,
And no proportion governs it; the Child
Is far too small; the colouring too harsh.
The critics judge; but they do not perceive
This picture has a soul — your very soul,
Dear Mother, I see there.
I do not care
For all the masterly Madonnas made
This is the picture that I love. It's you!
