C.D. Warner, et al., comp. The Library of the World’s Best Literature.
An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.
Beauty
By Thomas Lodge (15581625)
L
Where all imperial glory shines,
Of selfsame color is her hair,
Whether unfolded or in twines.
Refining heaven by every wink;
The gods do fear whenas they glow,
And I do tremble when I think.
That beautifies Aurora’s face;
Or like the silver crimson shroud
That Phœbus’s smiling looks doth grace.
Whom ranks of lilies neighbor nigh;
Within which bounds she balm incloses,
Apt to entice a deity.
Where Love himself imprisoned lies,
To watch for glances every hour
From her divine and sacred eyes.
With marble white, with sapphire blue,
Her body everywhere is fed,
Yet soft in touch and sweet in view.
The gods are wounded in her sight;
And Love forsakes his heavenly fires,
And at her eyes his brand doth light.