In the living-room a man on a sofa is laying Two strangers at the door and one is knocking The man stands and opens the great wooden door The one who knows the host tells the other visitor
An old man with top hat and a dark walking stick Gets through the wooden door and says without a trick “I want to buy the portrait of this old heroine” “I’ll never sell this one not even to a king”
“since he finished his last work Percy’s gone wild and casts strange lurks Like a mad man who went too far His oil is the cause let’s take it afar”
“come back tomorrow” says the painter’s friend “Sir, maybe tomorrow in a sale it’ll end tonight, we’ll try to make his mind change and off with the oil, Sir, thou might get a chance”
“since he finished his last work Percy’s gone wild and casts strange lurks Like a mad man who went too far His oil is the cause let’s take it afar”
All eve long young ones tried to convince him To let the old man by this sale enrich him The talks are loud and words are high “Nothing to do but leave him tonight”
All alone the painter stares at his work There’s a woman face with dark and long hair Percy takes a book and reads it aloud “beautiful & perverse, Genuine a slave was made Priestess of mysteries bought by a strange old man” He falls asleep and the portrait comes alive And dressed with black ribbons lays by his side