 | Poems on Several Occasions |  |
On Beauty.
Sure, Beauty is a Light Divine,
That does with awful Lustre shine;
Rises more strong at ev'ry View,
And does the proudest Hearts subdue.
Where is the Man, that durst defy
The blooming Cheek and dazling Eye;
The lovely Shape, the winning Air,
And graceful Motions of the Fair?
Stoicks themselves could find no Arms
'Gainst Beauty's bright tremendous Charms:
This Cato by Example prov'd,
A rigid Stoick, yet he lov'd:
And both his am'rous Sons display'd
Their rival Flames for one fair Maid.
Beauty still triumphs o'er the Schools,
With all their Philosophick Rules;
She breaks their surest best Defence,
Reason, the feeble Guard of Sense.
That does with awful Lustre shine;
Rises more strong at ev'ry View,
And does the proudest Hearts subdue.
Where is the Man, that durst defy
The blooming Cheek and dazling Eye;
The lovely Shape, the winning Air,
And graceful Motions of the Fair?
Stoicks themselves could find no Arms
'Gainst Beauty's bright tremendous Charms:
This Cato by Example prov'd,
A rigid Stoick, yet he lov'd:
61
Their rival Flames for one fair Maid.
Beauty still triumphs o'er the Schools,
With all their Philosophick Rules;
She breaks their surest best Defence,
Reason, the feeble Guard of Sense.
All feel her Force, her Laws obey,
Compell'd to own her potent Sway.
But 'tis th' unblemish'd Form I praise,
Where Virtue shines with equal Rays!
For Beauty, stain'd, has lost her Pow'r,
And, Virtue gone, she charms no more.
Compell'd to own her potent Sway.
But 'tis th' unblemish'd Form I praise,
Where Virtue shines with equal Rays!
For Beauty, stain'd, has lost her Pow'r,
And, Virtue gone, she charms no more.
| Poems on Several Occasions | |