Poems (Chilton, 1885)/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 know
Thy snowy bosom hides a heart,
As cold as winter's snow!
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 know
Thy 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 grows
In garden-plot, or wood, or field,
Who would not pluck the rose?
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 grows
In 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 one
Who like the sun is only bright,
Not warm, too, like the sun!
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 one
Who like the sun is only bright,
Not warm, too, like the sun!