BEAUTY OF THE EYE. 103
BEAUTY OF THE EYE.
A POET, whether of the higher or the mediocre order, never addresses his mistress, without commemorating, in the best numbers he can produce, the charms of her eye. It is the moon that borrows its light from the interior sun of the soul, and expresses all the variations of that living luminary, in language that cannot deceive. We may often throw a mantle of words over our thoughts, and, when it suits our purpose, disguise them to a certain extent, but the eye seldom participates in the stratagem. It is a true index to what is really passing in the world of idea within, and the sincerity of its language, its readiness to bear witness to the truth or falsehood of our assertions, to place its stamp of currency on the former, and of counterfeit on the latter, forms in all climates one of its most valuable claims to our admiration. Hence, we have an interest in knowing the real intention of another towards us, we should not correspond with him by letter; we should see and converse with him, and read the involuntary revelations of his eye : they can seldom lead us astray.
The races of mankind, scattered over the surface of the earth, differ materially from each other in stature, in the contour of the face, the colour of the complexion, and the external appearance of the figure. It is not difficult to distinguish the Scotch from the English, or either from the Irish, the French, the Germans, the Italians, or the Spaniards. The distinctions become broader when we compare the inhabitants of one continent with those of the other-the Europeans with the Africans, or either with the occupants of Asia, or the Indians of America. But, though they are thus distinguishable from each other, the eye is of exactly the same form, and exhibits the same variety of colours amongst them all. It is the single feature in which they all most nearly agree. The difference between them in point of spoken or written language are incalculable-so great, that the dialect of one nation sounds like an unintelligible jargon in the ears of another; but the eye speaks in every country the same tongue. It answers in the uncivilized tracts of the earth the same purpose which the Latin or French accomplishes among the cultivated communities; it is the universal channel of communication when no other exists. It smiles, it chides, it animates, it soothes, it attracts, it repels, it commands, it weeps; and in all its changes it exercises an influence which neither gesture nor diction can rival.
There are numbers of persons in the world whose-general appearance is far from being prepossessing. By the way, they have been materially lessened within the last thirty years in those countries in which vaccination has been adopted. But even amongst those who cannot boast of a beautiful face, we very often see the want of that charm almost compensated by an eye of uncommon loveliness. We may often hear it said in society, “She has very ordinary features, indeed, but what a beautiful eye! “It is true that, under such circumstances, the circle of its attractions is limited, but they are its own, and they are never without a certain degree of power. There was, therefore, as little of truth as of gallantry in the verses in which Carew told Celia, that it was his poetical praise of her that gave wings to her fame.
“That killing power is none of thine,
I gave it to thy voice and eyes : Thy sweets, thy graces all are mine; Thou art my star, shin'st in my skies; Then dart not, from thy borrowed sphere, Lightning on him that fix'd thee there. "
We suppose that the following is one of the of stanzas in which he imparted to Celia şome the fame of which he speaks : -
“Ask me no more where those stars light, That downward fall in dead of night; For in your eyes they sit, and there Fixed become as in their sphere. "
Even the eyes of a gracefully finished statue, such, for instance, as the Venus of Canova, or the Orphan, which may now be seen at the exhibition of the Society of British Artists, have an intelligence in them, though altogether devoid of lustre. There is a tear upon the lid of the latter, which, though all marble as it is, yet seems as if in a moment it would fall upon her cheek. It seems to come from the heart of the child, and to paint in the most eloquent language the feeling of desolation, which at the moment is supposed to predominate in her mind.
The human eye is terrible to look upon when fired by anger; but how painful to contemplate it when it speaks of a mind dethroned! It has then an unearthly look, which makes us doubt whether we behold a being of this or of some other world.
The power of perfect vision is undoubtedly one of the most precious gifts, next to reason itself, which heaven has presented to man. It enables him to behold the light, the starry heavens, the green earth, the blue sea, the multitude of beautiful tints which distinguish flowers, and exhibit them in a raiment more splendid than “Solomon in all his glory. “What a severe privation then must it be to lose one's sight! What an affliction to have the soul as it were imprisoned, or at least confined to a comparatively narrow circle of resources! Milton's lamentation for the loss of his sight is well known : -
Thus with the year
Seasons return; but not to me return
Day, or the sweet approach of even or morn,
Or sight of vernal bloom, or summer's rose,
Or flocks, or herds, or human face divine. "
It is not, however, so well known that his eyes were originally injured by his unwearied exertions in his office when he served under Crom-
