2. the Picture On The Wall (To My Wife) Poem by MATTHEW ADJEI

4. THE PICTURE ON THE WALL (To my Wife)

What is this picture doing here?
--That fair image of rural beauty
Dangling on the Kollegium wall
Far away in this Danish country?

That is my African treasure -
Sweet innocent from a hamlet plot;
A flower of evergreen beauty -
This sweet pleasure of forget-me-not.

Once I saw her, so strange she fared
Among my vision of poetic themes;
A fancy breed among my garden plants,
And now part of my exotic dreams.

Oh, Queen of Simplicity -
With the silent language of art;
Oh, source of my inspiration
Of fathomless love of a heart.

So near I can feel the cheerful face,
With the silent smile from the wall;
So distant beats the mortal heart,
With echoes of eternal call.