From The Knickerbocker (New York) Vol. 29, No. 4, (April 1847) pg. 316. E P I G R A M ON AN UGLY WOMAN SITTING FOR HER DAGUERREOTYPE BY JOHN G. SAXE HERE Nature in her glass (the wanton elf!) Sits gravely 'making faces' at herself; And while she scans her clumsy features o'er, Repeats the blunders that she made of yore!

A variant of the poem also appears in both Poems by John G. Saxe (Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1856) pg. 98 and Cyclopaedia of Wit and Humor (edit. William E. Burton, NY: D. Appleton and Co., 1858) pg. 388. ON AN UGLY PERSON SITTING FOR A DAGUERREOTYPE AN EPIGRAM BY SAXE HERE nature in her glass,—the wanton elf,— Sits gravely making faces at herself; And while she scans each clumsy feature o'er, Repeats the blunders that she made before! (The epigram also appeared in the short tale, "Removing the Traces" in Appleton's Journal 9:201 (25 January 1873) pp. 146-148. End of text. Please refer to our textnote regarding this text.) Return to: Poetry   Daguerreian texts index