Whiles Alexander conquered, crookedness was comely:
And followers learn to praise the scars upon their leader's brow.
Youth hath sought to flatter age by mimicking grey hairs;
Age plastereth her wrinkles, and is painted in the ruddiness of Youth.
Fashion, the parasite of Rank, apeth faults and failings,
Until the general Taste depraved hath warped its sense of beauty.
Each man hath a measure for himself, yet all shall coincide in much;
A perfect form of human grace would captivate the world:
Be it manhood's lustre, or the loveliness of woman, all would own its beauty,
The Caffre and Circassian, Russians and Hindoos, the Briton, the Turk and Japanese.