At last, another of the "divine sunsets" which Browning adored had faded over the Lido; the "quiet-coloured end of evening" had darkened into dusk and stars. Even that alert and indefatigable frame grew weary with the day's long doings, and a natural desire for rest descended upon "the brain which too much thought expands." The vision of Guercino's picture, "fraught with a pathos so magnificent," returned upon him from that sultry day in which he had beheld the "Guardian Angel" at Fano, "my angel with me, too," and he longed for the touch of those divinely-healing hands. * * * * * Dear and great Angel, would'st thou only leave That child, when thou hast done with him, for me! Let me sit all the day here, that when eve Shall find performed thy special ministry And time come for departure, thou, suspending Thy flight, may'st see another child for tending, Another still, to quiet and retrieve. [Illustration: _Painting by W. Russell Flint._ THE GUARDIAN ANGEL.] Dear and great Angel, wouldst thou only leave That child, when thou hast done with him, for me! Let me sit all the day here, that when eve Shall find performed thy special ministry And time come for departure, thou, suspending Thy flight, mayst see another child for tending, Another still, to quiet and retrieve. Then I shall feel thee step one step, no more, From where thou standest now, to where I gaze, --And suddenly my head is covered o'er With those wings, white above the child who prays Now on that tomb--and I shall feel thee guarding Me, out of all the world; for me, discarding Yon Heaven thy home, that waits and opes its door! I would not look up thither past thy head Because the door opes, like that child, I know, For I should have thy gracious face instead, Thou bird of God! And wilt thou bend me low Like him, and lay, like his, my hands together, And lift them up to pray, and gently tether Me, as thy lamb there, with thy garments spread?... How soon all worldly wrong would be repaired! I think how I should view the earth and skies And sea, when once again my brow was bared After thy healing, with such different eyes. O world, as God has made it! all is beauty: And knowing this, is love, and love is duty. What further may be sought for or declared?