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ANACREON.
Absent though the maiden be,
Beauties I'll describe to thee,[1]
Thou, undazzled, ne'er couldst see.
Paint her dark and glossy hair,
Flowing down her neck so fair:
Further yet I must presume,
Let it seem to breathe perfume.
Her iv'ry forehead next thy care,
Shining mid her jet-black hair;
Let thy utmost skill be seen
In the dainty space between,
Where by sable archers cross'd,
Where the less'ning shade is lost.
Let her liquid eye of fire,
Like Minerva's, awe inspire;
With Cytherea's softness too
Temper the celestial blue;
- ↑ To give the reader an opportunity of judging whether or not this picture be too highly drawn, I have transcribed the following passage from a work deservedly held in the highest estimation:—
"The women, as I have intimated, are handsome; indeed, you rarely meet with an ugly face among them. The form of the head, the general cast of countenance, are classical; and in their profile I have frequently found that exquisite, gently curving line, we see in ancient Greek statues and medals, (and which we have been accustomed to consider the line of ideal beauty,) identified in 'real flesh and blood.' Their large, black eyes, with long lashes, and their delicately arched eyebrows; the latter, when not denaturalized and spoiled by the too common practice of dying them, are the finest I have ever seen."—M'Farlane's Constantinople, vol. i., p. 99. And again, "The Greek village of Panagea, situated on the seashore, to the south of Chesme, is celebrated for the beauty of its women; but throughout these regions the sex is universally handsome and graceful. Poverty, that cruel enemy to the charms of the person as well as of the mind, cannot destroy their attractions: the bright, intelligent, large black eye beams, the clear complexion, the exquisite Grecian nose, mouth, and chin, the classical contour, are there, in spite of its wrongs; and an innate grace of manner and motion develops itself through the covering of rags. I do not seek the recondite causes of this peculi-
