Page:Language of the Eye.djvu/100

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82
THE LANGUAGE

Again, in the 24th Ode, after describing the various gifts which nature has granted to various animals, he says:—

To man she gave the flame refined,
That spark of heaven—a thinking mind;—
And had she no surpassing treasure
For thee, oh woman! child of pleasure?
She gave thee beauty—a shaft of eyes,
That every shaft of war outflies;
She gave thee beauty—blush of fire,
That bids the flames of war retire!
Woman! be fair, we must adore thee;
Smile, and a world is weak before thee.

Also, 17th Ode:—

And guileless as the dews of dawn,
Let the majestic brows be drawn,
Of ebon dies, enrich'd by gold,
Such as the scaly snakes unfold.
Mingle, in her jetty glances,
Power that awes, and love that trances.
Steal from Venus bland desire;
Steal from Mars the look of fire:
Blend them in such expression here
That we by turns may hope and fear!

Again:—

Thy pencil, tho' divinely bright,
Is envious of the eyes' delight.

Coleridge says in the Day Dream:

My eyes make pictures when they're shut:
I see a fountain large and fair,
A willow and a ruined hut;
And thee, and me, and Mary there.
Oh Mary! make thy gentle lap our pillow;
Bend o'er us, like a bower, my beautiful green willow.

Glover declares the loving influence of the eye, and when speaking of the closing eye, says:—

As sliding down the hemisphere, the moon
Immersed in midnight, shades her silver head.