SHALL I, who oft have woo'd the Muse For gentle Ladies' sake, So fair a theme as this refuse -- The Ladies of the Lake? Hail, happy pair! 'tis yours to share Life's elegance and ease; The bliss of wealth without the care, The will and power to please, -- To please, but not alone our eyes, Nor yet alone our mind; Your taste, your goodness, charm the wise -- Your manners all mankind. The pleasant scenes that round you glow, Like caskets fraught with gold, Though beauteous in themselves, yet owe Their worth to what they hold. Trees may be found, and lakes, as fair; Fresh lawns, and gardens green; But where again the Sister-pair Who animate the scene? Where sense of that superior kind, Without man's haughty air? And where, without the trifling mind, The softness of the fair? Folly, with wealth, may idly raise Her hopes to shine like you, And humble flattery sound her praise, Till she believes it true; But wealth no more can give that grace To souls of meaner kind, Than summer's fiery sun can chase Their darkness from the blind. But drop, you'll say, the useless pen: Reluctant -- I obey, Yet let me take it once again, If not to praise, to pray That you, with partial grace, may deign This poor attempt to take, And I may oft behold again The Ladies of the Lake. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE LOVELINESS OF LOVE by GEORGE DARLEY HOW THE CUMBERLAND WENT DOWN [MARCH 8, 1862] by SILAS WEIR MITCHELL THE RUBAIYAT, 1879 EDITION: 17 by OMAR KHAYYAM FOR CHARLIE'S SAKE by JOHN WILLIAMSON PALMER IN MEMORIAM A.H.H.: 96 by ALFRED TENNYSON THE BLUEBELLS OF NEW ENGLAND by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH EMBLEMS OF LOVE: 34. TRUE LOVE KNOWS BUT ONE by PHILIP AYRES |