Tasso and the Sisters Tasso's Spirit: The Nuptials of Juno: The Skeletons: The Spirits of the Ocean. Poems, By Thomas Wade |
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 | Tasso and the Sisters |  |
‘There is a pride in singularity,
A foolish pride—most paltry pride of all;
For ne'er was excellence, or merit prov'd
By strange behaviour and unsocial ways;—
They shew an emptiness in heart and head,
And wise men should avoid this buffoon art,
Which suits mean Folly in his simplest mood.
Of form and dress let idle Idiots boast:
Chance gives the first—the last will riches bring.
Not so the clothing of th' immortal mind,
Which thought and constant study yield alone.
In mental beauty there is cause for pride:
The Mind—the glorious Mind hath nought to do
With form, with feature, or with modes of dress;
Its riches are as hidden as divine—
Boundless its powers, which can prevail o'er all
The disadvantages of corporal shape,
And lift a Pigmy o'er a Giant's head!’
A foolish pride—most paltry pride of all;
For ne'er was excellence, or merit prov'd
By strange behaviour and unsocial ways;—
They shew an emptiness in heart and head,
And wise men should avoid this buffoon art,
Which suits mean Folly in his simplest mood.
Of form and dress let idle Idiots boast:
Chance gives the first—the last will riches bring.
Not so the clothing of th' immortal mind,
Which thought and constant study yield alone.
In mental beauty there is cause for pride:
The Mind—the glorious Mind hath nought to do
With form, with feature, or with modes of dress;
Its riches are as hidden as divine—
Boundless its powers, which can prevail o'er all
The disadvantages of corporal shape,
And lift a Pigmy o'er a Giant's head!’
| Tasso and the Sisters | |