WHY should the world be apt to censure me? Wherein have I offended that I sought To grace my mind with jewels dearly bought, Nor turned my heart to jeweled vanity? From greed of riches I am fancy-free; But deem no work of fancy fairly wrought Till crowned with diamonds from the mine of thought, That worth my wealth, not wealth my worth, may be. I am not Beauty's votary. I know Her conquests fall a spoil to age at last: I find no joy in money's gaudy show; For gold like chaff into the furnace cast Fits but to feed Art's flame, and keep the glow Of golden Truth a glory unsurpassed. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...WIND AND WINDOW FLOWER by ROBERT FROST A SKETCH by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI ASTROPHEL AND STELLA: 98 by PHILIP SIDNEY THE GARDEN OF PROSERPINE by ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE ODES: BOOK 1: ODE 3. TO A FRIEND UNSUCCESSFUL IN LOVE by MARK AKENSIDE |