BELIEVE 't, young man, I can as eas'ly tell How many yards and inches 'tis to hell, Unriddle all predestination, Or the nice points we now dispute upon. Had the three goddesses been just as fair, [. . . . . .] It had not been so easily decided, And sure the apple must have been divided: It must, it must; he' s impudent, dares say Which is the handsomer till one 's away. And it was necessary it should be so: Wise Nature did foresee it, and did know, When she had fram'd the eldest, that each heart Must at the first sight feel the blind god's dart: And sure as can be, had she made but one, No plague had been more sure destruction; For we had lik'd, lov'd, burnt to ashes too, In half the time that we are choosing now: Variety and equal objects make The busy eye still doubtful which to take, This lip, this hand, this foot, this eye, this face, The other's body, gesture, or her grace; And whilst we thus dispute which of the two, We unresolv'd go out, and nothing do. He sure is happiest that has hopes of either; Next him is he that sees them both together. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...FIFTH AVENUE-SPRING AFTERNOON by LOUIS UNTERMEYER ROBERT OF LINCOLN by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT CORRESPONDENCES; HEXAMETERS AND PENTAMETERS by CHRISTOPHER PEARSE CRANCH FABLE: THE MOUNTAIN AND THE SQUIRREL by RALPH WALDO EMERSON THE COMING AMERICAN by SAM WALTER FOSS AN EPITAPH ON A ROBIN REDBEAST by SAMUEL ROGERS A PUBLIC DANCE by JOHANNA AMBROSIUS |