 | 'Twixt Kiss and Lip or Under the Sword. By the author of "Women Must Weep," [i.e. F. W. O. Ward] Third edition |  |
171
MY QUEEN.
Let others talk of golden tresses,
And eyes that glance and glow;
Of lips that curl with sweet caresses,
And shoulders white as snow.
I am not blind to beauty's treasures,
Nor cold to queenly charms;
And I have had my youthful pleasures,
In soft voluptuous arms.
And eyes that glance and glow;
Of lips that curl with sweet caresses,
And shoulders white as snow.
I am not blind to beauty's treasures,
Nor cold to queenly charms;
And I have had my youthful pleasures,
In soft voluptuous arms.
Let others praise the bloom and brightness,
Which all the world can see;
Nor heed that lovely gifts and lightness,
Too often well agree.
I care not for those common graces,
As free as sun and air;
I seek not out such public faces,
So generally fair.
Which all the world can see;
Nor heed that lovely gifts and lightness,
Too often well agree.
I care not for those common graces,
As free as sun and air;
I seek not out such public faces,
So generally fair.
There is a spell in faultless beauty,
The coldest must confess;
It almost seems a woman's duty,
To please with prettiness.
But still, while this may give direction,
To others' fond desires;
I little prize that broad perfection,
Which every one admires.
The coldest must confess;
It almost seems a woman's duty,
To please with prettiness.
But still, while this may give direction,
To others' fond desires;
I little prize that broad perfection,
Which every one admires.
The lure of fine harmonious features,
And the most radiant smiles,
May thrill the breasts of doting creatures,
But not my heart beguiles.
It is not needful for salvation,
To worship mere good looks;
Nor even a liberal education,
To love them out of books.
And the most radiant smiles,
May thrill the breasts of doting creatures,
But not my heart beguiles.
It is not needful for salvation,
To worship mere good looks;
Nor even a liberal education,
To love them out of books.
Though men may deem it dire transgression,
Against the rules of art;
Give me the beauty of expression,
That blossoms from the heart.
I value not the outward finish,
Which animals may show;
But gifts the years will not diminish.
That still more lovely grow.
Against the rules of art;
Give me the beauty of expression,
That blossoms from the heart.
I value not the outward finish,
Which animals may show;
But gifts the years will not diminish.
That still more lovely grow.
Leave me the harmony of sweetness,
That marks a moral grace;
And I will give you the completeness,
Of the most perfect face.
The poets long have piled their verse on,
The trappings of the troll;
Away with your mere pretty person,
I want a pretty soul.
That marks a moral grace;
And I will give you the completeness,
Of the most perfect face.
172
The trappings of the troll;
Away with your mere pretty person,
I want a pretty soul.
I look not for, in any woman,
A mere fine weather form;
I wish her to be sweetly human,
To brave with me the storm.
The glow and colour, that will perish,
The senses quickly sate;
I choose to honour and to cherish—
No picture but—a mate.
A mere fine weather form;
I wish her to be sweetly human,
To brave with me the storm.
The glow and colour, that will perish,
The senses quickly sate;
I choose to honour and to cherish—
No picture but—a mate.
The charms that stand the test of trouble,
Yet fly from social glare;
That age and trial only double,
I reckon the most fair.
And all this unobtrusive merit,
The pure and modest mien,
The qualities no kings inherit,—
I find them in my Queen.
Yet fly from social glare;
That age and trial only double,
I reckon the most fair.
And all this unobtrusive merit,
The pure and modest mien,
The qualities no kings inherit,—
I find them in my Queen.
| 'Twixt Kiss and Lip or Under the Sword. By the author of "Women Must Weep," [i.e. F. W. O. Ward] Third edition | |