A Selection from the Lyrical Poems of Robert Herrick

201. THE LILY IN A CRYSTAL

     You have beheld a smiling rose
     When virgins' hands have drawn
     O'er it a cobweb-lawn:
     And here, you see, this lily shows,
     Tomb'd in a crystal stone,
     More fair in this transparent case
     Than when it grew alone,
     And had but single grace.

     You see how cream but naked is,
     Nor dances in the eye
     Without a strawberry;
     Or some fine tincture, like to this,
     Which draws the sight thereto,
     More by that wantoning with it,
     Than when the paler hue
     No mixture did admit.

     You see how amber through the streams
     More gently strokes the sight,
     With some conceal'd delight,
     Than when he darts his radiant beams
     Into the boundless air;
     Where either too much light his worth
     Doth all at once impair,
     Or set it little forth.

     Put purple grapes or cherries in-
     To glass, and they will send
     More beauty to commend
     Them, from that clean and subtle skin,
     Than if they naked stood,
     And had no other pride at all,
     But their own flesh and blood,
     And tinctures natural.

     Thus lily, rose, grape, cherry, cream,
     And strawberry do stir
     More love, when they transfer
     A weak, a soft, a broken beam;
     Than if they should discover
     At full their proper excellence,
     Without some scene cast over,
     To juggle with the sense.

     Thus let this crystall'd lily be
     A rule, how far to teach
     Your nakedness must reach;
     And that no further than we see
     Those glaring colours laid
     By art's wise hand, but to this end
     They should obey a shade,
     Lest they too far extend.

     —So though you're white as swan or snow,
     And have the power to move
     A world of men to love;
     Yet, when your lawns and silks shall flow,
     And that white cloud divide
     Into a doubtful twilight;—then,
     Then will your hidden pride
     Raise greater fires in men.