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venus and the modern belle.
She said, and she started; for lo! in the glass,
Beside her a shape of rich loveliness came!
She turn'd,—it was Venus herself! and the lass
Stood blushing before her, in silence and shame.
Beside her a shape of rich loveliness came!
She turn'd,—it was Venus herself! and the lass
Stood blushing before her, in silence and shame.
"Fair girl!" said the goddess—" the girdle you seek
Is one you can summon at once, if you will;
It will wake the soft dimple and bloom of your cheek,
And, with peerless enchantment, your flashing eyes fill.
Is one you can summon at once, if you will;
It will wake the soft dimple and bloom of your cheek,
And, with peerless enchantment, your flashing eyes fill.
"No gem in your casket such lustre can lend,
No silk wrought in silver, such beauty bestow;
With that talisman, heed not, tho' simply, my friend,
Your robe and your ringlets unjewell'd may flow!"
No silk wrought in silver, such beauty bestow;
With that talisman, heed not, tho' simply, my friend,
Your robe and your ringlets unjewell'd may flow!"
"Oh, tell it me! give it me?"—Beauty exclaim'd,
As Hope's happy smile to her rosy mouth stole:
"Nay! you wear it e'en now, since your temper is tamed,—
Tis the light of Good Humor,—that gem of the soul!"
As Hope's happy smile to her rosy mouth stole:
"Nay! you wear it e'en now, since your temper is tamed,—
Tis the light of Good Humor,—that gem of the soul!"
