University of Virginia Library


103

XIV. “WHEN BEAUTY LIKE THINE”

When beauty like thine is a common thing
(If ever such surpassing grace may be!)—
When English womanhood doth copy thee
As the white sea-foam copies the white wing
That hovers o'er it: when the far years bring
Grace in their train: when senseless fashions flee:
When future artists' happier eyes may see
A nobler English architecture spring
Upward around them: when the clothes we wear,
The homes we build, are no more deadliest foes
To Art: when England wins a great repose
And for the first time sees how very fair
Her towns and people might be—she will bear
Art that will blossom like her heavenliest rose.