For the Southern Literary Messenger.
BEAUTY AND TIME.
[Written under a vignette, representing a branch of roses
with a scythe suspended over it, in a Lady's Album.]
| Emblem of woman's beauty, This blooming rose behold! Time's scythe is hanging o'er it, While yet its leaves unfold. Alas! that Time is ever To Beauty such a foe! How can she shun his power? How ward his withering blow? Has she no art to foil him, And turn his scythe aside? Must she, who conquers others, To him yield up her pride? Yes, yes, there is a conquest That Beauty gains o'er Time: Forget it not, ye fair ones, But prize the homely rhyme. For every charm he pilfers From Beauty's form or face, Upon the mind's fair tablet, Some new attraction trace. Thus, Time's assaults are fruitless, For, when her bloom is o'er, Woman, despite his malice, Is lovelier than before. |
S.
For the Southern Literary Messenger.