 | Areytos or songs and ballads of the South |  |
RENDER THY TRIBUTE TO BEAUTY.
I.
Render thy tribute to Beauty,Nor question with doubt the decree,
That makes the sweet service a duty,
Though without seeming profit it be;
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Where Beauty is priestess, though still
The heart of the worshipper falter,
As the smile of the goddess grows chill!
II.
'Twere sadder, the fortune which found thee,From the bondage of Beauty set free;
For the fetters with which she had bound thee,
Did'st thou love them, were blessings to thee!
She might scorn the poor captive's devotion,
While holding him fast in her snare;
But the freedom of earth and of ocean,
Were but exile, were Beauty not there!
| Areytos or songs and ballads of the South | |