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Home  »  English Poetry I  »  230. The True Beauty

English Poetry I: From Chaucer to Gray.
The Harvard Classics. 1909–14.

Thomas Carew

230. The True Beauty

HE that loves a rosy cheek

Or a coral lip admires,

Or from star-like eyes doth seek

Fuel to maintain his fires;

As old Time makes these decay,

So his flames must waste away.

But a smooth and steadfast mind,

Gentle thoughts, and calm desires,

Hearts with equal love combined,

Kindle never-dying fires:—

Where these are not, I despise

Lovely cheeks or lips or eyes.