For any man with half an eye,
What stands before him may espy;
But optics sharp it read more

For any man with half an eye,
What stands before him may espy;
But optics sharp it needs I ween,
To see what is not to be seen.

We see things not as they are but as we are.

We see things not as they are but as we are.

See and to be seen.

See and to be seen.

And for to se, and eek for to be seye.

And for to se, and eek for to be seye.

And finds with keen, discriminating sight,
Black's not so black--nor white so very white.

And finds with keen, discriminating sight,
Black's not so black--nor white so very white.

A monster frightful, formless, immense, with sight removed.
[Lat., Monstrum horrendum, informe, ingens, cui lumen ademptum.]

A monster frightful, formless, immense, with sight removed.
[Lat., Monstrum horrendum, informe, ingens, cui lumen ademptum.]

Then purg'd with euphrasy and rue
The visual nerve, for he had much to see.

Then purg'd with euphrasy and rue
The visual nerve, for he had much to see.

And every eye
Gaz'd as before some brother of the sky.

And every eye
Gaz'd as before some brother of the sky.

For sight is woman-like and shuns the old.
(Ah! he can see enough, when years are told,
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For sight is woman-like and shuns the old.
(Ah! he can see enough, when years are told,
Who backwards looks.)