| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
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| 1025. Pastel |
| | | By Francis Saltus Saltus |
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| AMONG the priceless gems and treasures rare | |
| Old Versailles shelters in its halls sublime, | |
| I can recall one faded image fair, | |
| A girl’s sad face, praised once in every clime. | |
| Poets have sung, in rich and happy rhyme, | 5 |
| Her violet eyes, the wonder of her hair. | |
| An art-bijou it was, but dimmed by time, | |
| A dreamy pastel of La Valliere! | |
| I, too, remember in my heart a face | |
| Whose charm I deemed would ever with me dwell; | 10 |
| But as the days went by, its peerless grace | |
| Fled like those dreams that blooming dawn dispel, | |
| Till of its beauty there was left no trace, | |
| Time having blurred it like that pale pastel! | |
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