University of Virginia Library


182

PERFUME.

False girl! thy sweetness had a price,
Thy richest scent was bought with gold;
But real attractions are not sold,
And vain is all thine artifice.
The maid whose sweetness is her own
Needs not the attar's sprinkled showers;
Nor Essence of a Thousand Flowers;
Nor fragrant Water of Cologne.
I seek her as the honey bee
Seeks out some earthly paradise;
Till in the pools of her blue eyes
The image of myself I see.