For the Portrait of Honoré Daumier
He whose portrait we offer you,
Whose art subtler than all others,
Teaches us to laugh at ourselves,
He is a sage, gentle reader.
He's a satirist, a scoffer;
But the power with which he paints
Evil and his retinue
Attests the beauty of his heart.
His laughter is not the grimace
Of Melmoth or of Mephisto
Under Alecto's torch which burns them
But makes our blood run cold.
Their laughter, alas! is only
A sad caricature of mirth;
His radiates, hearty and free,
Like a symbol of his goodness!