I once adored a woman's face And manly beauty gave me joy. But why delight in human grace? How soon it fades! How frail a toy! Once I saw heaven in sunny fields, On ocean's shore, on mountain sides. A mystic light nature still yields; But not for long man's sorrow hides. Dear saints -- a few such souls I've known -- Have shared with me their peace and light; But they have seemed so strange, alone, They gave me no prolonged delight. While of all these I make complaint, Still, still I seek a beauty rare, -- Of face and form, of nature, saint, -- But most a world redeemed from care. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ECLOGUE ON ELIZABETH BELSHAM by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD THE BRONZE STATUE OF NAPOLEON by AUGUSTE BARBIER TORRISMOND; AN UNFINISHED DRAMA by THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES CAMP-MEETING SUNDAY AT OCEAN GROVE by ETHEL LYNN BEERS VIA LUCIS by CHARLES GRANGER BLANDEN POIHNATION; FOR J. P. by THOMAS EDWARD BROWN |