Attired to please herself: no gems of any kind
She wore, nor aught of borrowed gloss in Nature's stead;
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Attired to please herself: no gems of any kind
She wore, nor aught of borrowed gloss in Nature's stead;
And, then her long, loose hair flung round her head
Fell carelessly behind.

Dress does not give knowledge.
[Sp., La ropa no da ciencia.]

Dress does not give knowledge.
[Sp., La ropa no da ciencia.]

So for thy spirit did devise
Its Maker seemly garniture,
Of its own essence parcel pure.--
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So for thy spirit did devise
Its Maker seemly garniture,
Of its own essence parcel pure.--
From grave simplicities a dress,
And reticent demureness,
And love encinctured with reserve;
Which the woven vesture would subserve.
For outward robes in their ostents
Should show the soul's habiliments.
Therefore I say,--Thou'rt fair even so,
But better Fair I use to know.

A winning wave, (deserving note.)
In the tempestuous petticote,
A careless shoe-string, in whose tye
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A winning wave, (deserving note.)
In the tempestuous petticote,
A careless shoe-string, in whose tye
I see a wilde civility,--
Doe more bewitch me than when art
Is too precise in every part.

Her polish'd limbs,
Veil'd in a simple robe, their best attire;
Beyond the pomp of dress; for read more

Her polish'd limbs,
Veil'd in a simple robe, their best attire;
Beyond the pomp of dress; for Loveliness
Needs not the foreign aid of ornament,
But is, when unadorn'd the most.

Who seems most hideous when adorned the most.
[Lat., Che quant' era piu ornata, era piu brutta.]

Who seems most hideous when adorned the most.
[Lat., Che quant' era piu ornata, era piu brutta.]

When his wife asked him to change clothes to meet the German
Ambassador: "If they want to see me, read more

When his wife asked him to change clothes to meet the German
Ambassador: "If they want to see me, here I am. If they want to
see my clothes, open my closet and show them my suits."

To treat a poor wretch with a bottle of Burgundy, and fill his
snuff-box, is like giving a pair read more

To treat a poor wretch with a bottle of Burgundy, and fill his
snuff-box, is like giving a pair of laced ruffles to a man that
has never a shirt on his back.

A night-cap deck'd his brows instead of bay,
A cap by night,--a stocking all the day.

A night-cap deck'd his brows instead of bay,
A cap by night,--a stocking all the day.