Poetics Or, a series of poems, and disquisitions on poetry. By George Dyer |
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| XII. | ODE XII. ON SEEING A LADY'S PORTRAIT. |
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 | Poetics |  |
ODE XII. ON SEEING A LADY'S PORTRAIT.
Lady, that portrait does but shew,
What you were thirty years ago,
Or a few years before;
The rose and lily of the face;
The sparkling eye; the youthful grace;
But it can shew no more.
What you were thirty years ago,
Or a few years before;
The rose and lily of the face;
The sparkling eye; the youthful grace;
But it can shew no more.
But you have more; the heart refin'd;
A sprightly wit; a thinking mind;
This from your face appears.
And your old friends, as well as new,
Declare, that they perceive in you,
The growth of thirty years.
A sprightly wit; a thinking mind;
This from your face appears.
And your old friends, as well as new,
Declare, that they perceive in you,
The growth of thirty years.
74
Time, then, whom oft a thief we name,
You, lady, should at least proclaim
A thief of gen'rous mould:
For tho' he has from day to day,
Been stealing a few flowers away,
He has left you all your gold.
You, lady, should at least proclaim
A thief of gen'rous mould:
For tho' he has from day to day,
Been stealing a few flowers away,
He has left you all your gold.
| Poetics | |