The True Beauty
Thomas Carew · 1640
Public domain
From The Golden Treasury, selected by Francis Turner Palgrave. Thomas Carew. The text is free of copyright in the United States. This copy is the poem, without the Project Gutenberg header.
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.