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TO A COLD BEAUTY.
TO A COLD BEAUTY.
Lady, I know thine eyes are bright, I know thy cheek is fair;I know that beauty, like the light, Dwells round thee, everywhere;But vain thy charms of form and face, For ah! alas! I knowThy snowy bosom hides a heart, As cold as winter's snow!
The lovely rose is often seen And pass'd unheeded by,When other flowers of fairer mien Attract the gazer's eye:But who, if called upon to pluck The fairest flower that growsIn garden-plot, or wood, or field, Who would not pluck the rose?
For beauty, when its charms appeal But to one sense alone,Is like the chisell'd block—we feel We gaze upon a stone.Forgive me then if I refuse To bend the knee to oneWho like the sun is only bright, Not warm, too, like the sun!
