I haled me a woman from the street,
Shameless, but, oh, so fair!
I bade her sit in the model’s seat
And painted her sitting there.
I hid all traces of her heart unclean;
I painted a babe at her breast;
I painted her as she might have been
If the Worst had been the Best.
She laughed at my picture and went away.
Then came, with a knowing nod,
A connoisseur, and I heard him say;
“Tis Mary, the Mother of God.”
So, I painted a halo round her hair,
And I sold her and took my fee,
And she hangs in the church of Saint Hillaire,
Where you and all may see.
Shameless, but, oh, so fair!
I bade her sit in the model’s seat
And painted her sitting there.
I hid all traces of her heart unclean;
I painted a babe at her breast;
I painted her as she might have been
If the Worst had been the Best.
She laughed at my picture and went away.
Then came, with a knowing nod,
A connoisseur, and I heard him say;
“Tis Mary, the Mother of God.”
So, I painted a halo round her hair,
And I sold her and took my fee,
And she hangs in the church of Saint Hillaire,
Where you and all may see.
My Madonna
Tales Of The Far North
by Tom Byrne...'The Bard Of The North'
Copyright 2010 Tales of the Far North: Cremation of Sam McGee. All Rights Reserved.
