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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


EPICOENE; OR, THE SILENT WOMAN: FREEDOM IN DRESS by BEN JONSON

Poet Analysis

First Line: STILL TO BE NEAT, STILL TO BE DREST
Last Line: THEY STRIKE MINE EYES, BUT NOT MY HEART.
Subject(s): ART & ARTISTS; CLOTHING & DRESS; COSMETICS; SIMPLICITY;

STILL to be neat, still to be drest,
As you were going to a feast;
Still to be powdered, still perfumed --
Lady, it is to be presumed,
Though art's hid causes are not found,
All is not sweet, all is not sound.

Give me a look, give me a face,
That makes simplicity a grace;
Robes loosely flowing, hair as free, --
Such sweet neglect more taketh me
Than all the adulteries of art:
They strike mine eyes, but not my heart.



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