THE POWER OF BEAUTY.

BY —.

COME, fair Dorinda, and, while Beauty glows
Warm on thy lovely cheek, auspicious come,
And animate my song! O may I gaze
On every charm, and from each shining grace
Catch inspiration! let thy genius aid
My lays unpractis'd, pour into my verse
The flow harmonious, while th' enchanted Muse
Relates the charms, which o'er the yielding heart
Perpetual reign, and hold resistless sway. 

Diffusive Nature, who with liberal hand
Scatters her bounties round, and decks the Spring
In all its gay attire, the Virgin's cheek
Flushes with beauty, and adorns her brow
With charms attractive; shapes her faultless form
With skill unerring, on her breast bestows
The snowy hue, while o'er her shining neck
In wanton ringlets flows her ebon hair
[Page 173]18  Dishevell'd, graceful, and her sparkling eyes
Dart kindling flame: majestic on she moves,
Conscious of native worth, and smiling love
Alluring. Hither, ye! whose hard'ned hearts
Ne'er felt a lover's pangs, ah! hither come,
To feel the force of Beauty: here survey,
In radiant lustre, the bewitching grace,
Which from the dawn of time o'er Nature held
Her soft domain. Since first the vital spark
Awak'd the human breast, and Man arose
To conscious being, the fair female form
Dazzled his eye, and thro' his panting breast
Shot Beauty's ray. When in primaeval Spring
Life uncorrupted roll'd its golden hours,
Free from th' attacks of Vice, as yet unsour'd
With Pain corroding; nor Disease had rear'd
Her snaky crest to blast their blooming days:
Then Beauty reign'd, and form'd the sacred tye
Connubial. Oft, amid the green retreat,
Where fanning zephrys play'd, the joyous Hour
Fled on the wings of Love: here Innocence,
And balmy Peace, and Friendship, heaven-born Power,
By Beauty heighten'd, o'er the human pair
Their choicest influence shed. Nor Beauty less,
Thro' long succeeding ages, o'er the heart
Her conquest held; devoted man attests
The pleasing truth, while at the syren voice
Of Music, thrilling the enchanting note,
He prostrate falls, the fond distracted prey
Of passions raging thro' th' enfever'd heart. 

[Page 174]

So Nature wills; and while encreasing strength
Braces the nerves, and thro' the swelling veins
The blood fierce-boiling flows, subduing Love
Still reigns in man, to polish and refine
His barbarous mind: nor, till the soothing flame
Has seiz'd his heart, and thaw'd his frozen soul,
E'er can he relish the sublime delight
Of social transport, nor consenting feel
The sympathetic bliss, nor taste the sweets
Of hallow'd Friendship, nor affected hear
The voice of Woe, as oft she vents her moan
In wailings loud. The soft relenting heart,
Kind Pity's tear, the all-profusive hand
Of Charity, the generous flow of soul,
These are not his, who never yet has felt
The pangs of Love, o'er whom th' enchanting power
Of Beauty never reign'd, whose sullen breast
Ne'er glow'd with transport, and the anxious throbs
Which panting lovers know; but all his soul
Is solitary gloom, untaught to pour
The friendly fervor, and, with heart enlarg'd,
To breathe the warm benevolence of Love. 

Come ye, who now your gayest moments pass,
And graceful flourish 'midst the shining throng,
Whilst life flies joyous, and your youthful years
Roll placid on, before the radiant throne
Of Beauty kneel. Whatever warms the breast
With noble purpose, what informs the heart
To melt, and moulds you into social man,
Is Beauty's power. From her poetic heat
[Page 175]78  Derives new fire, and taught by her oft paints
The visionary scene, and touches all
The springs of passion: hers each winning grace,
And comely gesture hers: enfrozen Age,
Bending to earth beneath the weight of years,
With wrinkled front, and venerable hair,
Melts at her fair approach; he feels warm blood
Run thro' his wither'd veins, erect he lifts
His hoary head, and on his aged brow
Unusual gladness smiles, while his cold heart
Warm'd into fervor glows: her kindling voice
All rural nature hears, and starts amaz'd
Topolish'dlife.Thuswhentherustictt Alluding to Dryden's beautiful fable of Cymon and Iphigenia.
swain
Saw sleeping Beauty, on the grassy bank,
Reclin'd at ease, and careless beaming round
Her charms attractive, while upon her face
Play'd all the laughing loves; surpriz'd he gaz'd,
And felt a thousand transports shoot along
His shivering nerves: now his unfeeling heart,
Unus'd to pant, with soft emotion heaves;
He trembling view'd, and all his soul was Love. 

And ye, fair offspring of the bounteous hand
Of Nature, ye array'd in all the charms
Of vernal youth, flush'd on your comely cheek
By Beauty's balmy breath, while yielding Man
To you resigns his heart, and eager sighs
Low at your feet, and tells the moving tale
Of plaintive love: how, sleepless, on his couch
[Page 176]106  He counts the tedious hours, or slumbering starts
From flattering visions, which delusive swim
Before his eyes; how busy Fancy paints
Your beauteous figure, in resplendent robes
Luxuriant floating, as you graceful move
In all the airs of love; and while he grasps
Th' imagin'd form, how lost in empty air
The fair illusion flies: how taste forgets
The poignant relish, and the spicy gale
To him no odours wafts: cheerless and sad
He wanders pensive to the lonely shade,
To blend his moanings with the whispering breeze,
While sympathetic glides the weeping rill
In many currents by, and there to thought
Devotes the gloomy hour, complaining oft,
In tender strains, how fair Amanda scorns
His melting heart, how slights the mournful tale
Of fond, despairing love; nor here can long
Indulge his woe, but restless with the crowd
Impatient mingles, solace there to find,
Amidst the tumult of a maddening world:
Still haunts the phantom, still his bosom burns
With unremitted pain, and Love resumes
His tyrant empire: how his alter'd looks,
Meagre and pale, speak the distracting fiend
Which on his vitals preys; how strength forsakes
His quivering limbs; how wrapt in awful gloom
Frail sickening nature pines away in woe. —
O gently then, ye lovely conquerors! use
Your unresisted sway; forth stretch your arms,
[Page 177]136  To raise from abject plight the fainting slave,
And on his tortur'd soul, propitious, pour
The balm of Hope; and now delighted taste
Love's fond delights, while Passion eager pants
In every vein, and warms your glowing breasts
With fairy prospects of transporting joys. 

Nor, gay Amanda, tho', with sighs, to you
The plaintive Damon kneels, and vents his soul
In softly swelling strains: yet let not these
Dilate your heart; nor look with scornful air
On the gay rivals, who with you contest
Fair Beauty's prize, and vie, supreme, to shine
'Midst the soft circles, where indulgent flow
The soothing hours; where Music gently wakes,
Symphonious, every passion, and attunes
The soul to rapture, while diffusive joy
Spreads thro' the melting throng. For Beauty still
By Taste is prov'd, by her capricious law
It blooms or withers. You! who long have held
The willing Strephon, o'er th' obdurate heart
Of Damon never reign'd; while he, subdu'd
By bright Amanda, sighs his soul away
In unavailing moan. Far from your breast
Be banish'd Pride; the high assuming air
Ill suits the brow where Tenderness and Love
Should dwell distinguish'd: nor can Reason judge
Whose charms superior shine; some dazzling grace,
Still nameless, flashes on th' admiring eye. 

Beyond description, fairer than her sex,
To me, Dorinda seems: how darts her eye
[Page 178]166  Its soul-dissolving fires! how, o'er neck,
Gracefully careless, falls her auburn hair! 
Her mien how soft! Can the pure mountain snow,
With her warm bosom, rising to the throbs
Of undissembled love, compare its white? 
The rose its red with hers? Nor Strephon less
Adores his blooming bride; she fairer, she
Is Beauty's self, and as she gently moves
Her limbs, proportion'd with unerring skill,
A thousand radiant graces in her train
Alluring dance. Each nameless charm is hers;
And Love, and Joy, and Virtue, sit enthron'd
In every look and smile. Not varied more
The human face, with different features stampt
By Nature's forming hand, than Taste which views,
In objects different, various beauties glow. 

O while ye glory in your youthful prime,
And yield attention to the syren voice
Of Praise; in that soft season, when the breast
A strange enchantment feels; when Pleasure pants
In every vein; and sparkles in the eye
Superfluous Health; then guard your rebel hearts
Against seducing Love. Suspend, ye fair! 
These softer cares, and listen, while the Muse
Rises superior to the fading glare
Of mortal charms, and now essays to touch
The heart, and open to th' enraptur'd soul
More lasting Beauty, moral and divine,
Which grows in age, nor at the pale approach
Of death decays; but with unblasted grace
[Page 179]196  For ever blossoms. Hail! bright Virtue, hail! 
Propitious come, inspire my glowing breast
To sing of thee! Without thee, what are all
Life's gayest trappings, what the fleeting show
Of youth, or charms, which for a moment spread
Their visionary bloom, but withering die,
Nor leave remembrance of their fancy'd worth! 

See, how adorn'd in heaven's ail-glorious pomp
Fair Virtue comes, and in her radiant train
Ten thousand beauties wait: behold she comes,
To sill the soul with never-ceasing joy! 
Attend her voice, sweet as the solemn sounds
Of cherubs, when they strike their golden harps
In sacred concert, while the sky resounds
Symphonious. Hence, ye fond delusive dreams
Of fleeting pleasure! she the heart distends
With more enduring bliss: kindled by her,
The generous bosom breathes the social sire,
And beats responsive to the woes of man. 

Now native Peace, and Harmony divine,
Dwell in the soul: to Reason's powerful law
Each passion yields; and her resistless sway
Struggling Corruption owns, nor dares assault
A heart confirm'd by her: and now the fame
Of Nature conquer'd by th' informing voice
Of Reason, thro' celestial mansions flies
On wings angelic: thro' the winding paths
Of life, fair Prudence guides, and points the road
To Happiness and Peace; while in the breast
Untainted Innocence and Freedom reign. 

[Page 180]

These are the charms of Virtue, these will bloom
When time shall cease: ev'n Beauty's self by these
More lovely seems, she looks with added grace,
And smiles seraphic: nor shall hoary age
Their blossoms wither, but perpetual spring
Here shed her influence; while a showy world,
Its varnish losing, shall deceive no more,
And Nature, sickening at approaching fate,
Shall sink beneath its doom. Whate'er adorns
The female breast, whate'er can move the soul
With fervent rapture, every winning grace,
And mild endearment, tenderness and love
InfairAspasiauu See this perfect character in Mr. Johnson's Irene.
shine;'tisherstocharm
With elocution sweet, and all the flow
Of soft persuasion, while the sensual heart
Refines, and feels fair Virtue dawning there. 

Nor ye, gay glittering tribe! who oft-times drink
Of Circe's poison'd cup, and down the stream
Of soothing pleasure all resistless flow
Enervate, deem unworthy of your wish
The charms of Virtue. While ye restless seek
The phantom Pleasure, where Indulgence plays
Her midnight gambols, o'er unstable paths
Ye heedless wander: as she points the way
Thro' her enchanting maze, th' illusive form
Conceals Destruction. While, with eager hope,
And mad Impatience, in a fond embrace
Ye grasp her panting, lo! the sorceress darts
[Page 181]254  Her latent venom thro' your tortur'd nerves. 
Then wakes Remorse; and, see! on yonder throne,
With woes surrounded, fell Disease displays
Her snaky crest, and o'er your guilty heads
Shakes all her horrors: Anguish, downcast Shame,
Succeed, and on the discontented brow
Satiety sits pale. The feeble knee,
Each nerve unbrac'd, beneath the fabric bends! 
The tott'ring fabric falls! the shades of death
Now quench those orbs, that beam'd impure desire! 
And, deeper yet, the gloom of black despair —
A darkness to be felt! — involves the soul! 
O, dread this complicated curse! and turn,
With holy horror, from the paths of Vice! 

Nor think, ye fair! the pensive Muse sorbids
The joys of Youth; she with complacent smile
Views ye light flutt'ring; she the social band
Joins chearful, and benevolent implores
Diffusive Nature on your heads to shed
Her gay profusion, lawish all her grace,
And in your bosoms pour the soul of love. 
Lo! rosy Youth holds forth her pictur'd scene,
With garlands crown'd; and tow'ring Fancy now
Her gay creation paints: high swells the breast
With emulation, and joy-teeming life
Its gay allurements shews. Forth by your side,
In glittering grandeur, walks th' enraptur'd swain:
With graceful ease, attemp'ring conscious pride,
He spreads his glories to th' admiring eye. 
[Page 182]283 Awak'd by Love, and by the subtle flame
Of Beauty kindled, with assiduous care,
And fond submission, to the chearful haunts
Of Mirth he leads you, and while wandering o'er
Enchanted ground, oft tells the pleasing tale
Persuasive: gently flow the smiling hours
In social converse, innocently gay. 

Come, Nature, best informer! kindly lead
Along the flowery walk, trod by the feet
Of youthful Pleasure; guide our heedless steps,
And safe conduct us to the bower of bliss! 
Supreme Directress! she the breast instructs
To breathe love's purer flame, graceful improves
Each varied motion, beams th' expressive eye,
And gives to Beauty all her power to charm. 
O! let her influence fill the different scenes
Of joy and love — whether we careless stray
Along the painted mead, where fragrance blends
Her thousand sweets; or tread the lengthen'd walk,
While Music chears the soul, and vistas green
Rise to the view, and pour their fresh delights
On the bewilder'd eye; or if we move
Along the hall refulgent with the blaze
Of India's stores, and every measure trace
Or slow or sprightly, while the lover feels
Unusual transports rush upon his soul
In admiration lost. Ah! here, ye fair,
Your gayest moments pass: as to the touch
Ye yield your hand, with palpitations quick
[Page 183]312  The snowy bosom heaves, and unreserv'd
Breathes the warm wish of kind consenting love. 

Far from the bosom of the tender fair,
Where love alone should dwell, fly base deceit,
Nor stain with perfidy the sacred shrine. 
Who's she that looks with high imperious mien,
In yonder walk, amidst her rivals, deck'd
In yellow robes resplendent? how she moves
With practis'd air, and darts her meaning glance
Amidst the throng! Thrown prostrate at her feet
The lover pleads, nor she the lover hears;
But swoln with pride of conquest scornful smiles. 
Yet if arous'd, and conscious of his wrongs,
He bids the last adieu, she yet in store
Has thousand winning wiles: the blood forsakes
Her blooming cheek, and on her coral lip
Steals Paleness; while, adorn'd in all the charms
Of weeping beauty, she resistless holds
The lover still her own. With streaming eyes
Again he views her, and his yielding heart
Melts with returning Love. — Inconstant still,
She, nor by pity mov'd, nor gratitude,
Nor awful virtue, to the sighing slave
Resigns her heart — there Vanity still dwells,
'Midst her fantastic joys enthron'd, and plans
Unnumber'd conquests o'er admiring man. 
Love is not hers, she never tastes the sweets
Of mutual rapture, mutual fond esteem,
Nor knows the charms of truth; her bosom beats
With other throbs. Anxieties and Fears,
[Page 184]342  Ambition's train! vex her aspiring soul,
And Disappointment leaves its baleful sting. 
Be this her portion! let her still possess
The dear deceits! — Awake, delusive thoughts,
Self-adulation come, and in her breast
Your soft enchantments pour! Life's glories raise
The splendid scene, and deck th' exulting fair
In all your fancied pomp! — Nor envy her,
Ye faithful few, whom the celestial grace
Of truth inspired! for, while she eager grasps
The flattering forms, they faithless all elude
Her fond embrace, and fleet in empty air. 

The fair Amanda knows no practis'd guile
To captivate the soul: sweet innocence
And truth are hers, and beauty unadorn'd,
Save when diffusive steals the glowing blush,
And shews her bright in every virgin charm. 
Her eyes no conquests seek, nor beats her breast
With anxious throbs; she Affectation's wiles
Nor practises nor knows: stranger to these,
She, only conscious of her virgin worth,
Heaves Nature's sighs, and, drest in Nature's grace,
All lovely seems, and moves attractive on
Amidst admiring swains: at her approach
Each bosom flutters, while the lovely maid
Nor scornful looks, nor with consenting smile
Bids Admiration all its incense pour
To her bewitching charms: yet on her brow
Modest Reserve oft sits, forbidding all
Love's wanton hopes. The fair Amanda thus
[Page 185]372  Resistless empire holds; while aw'd we gaze
On every charm, and at a distance sigh. 

Yet while the season of your blooming youth
Glides gently on, and liberal Nature showers
Her gayest blessings, peaceful, on your heads;
O! then let Science on your easy hours
Serenely steal: oft when the busy scene
Of meddling care, and fond officious love
Shuts on your eyes, and Solitude invites
To Meditation, let her mild infuse
Her sweet instruction: she the soul exalts
To dignity; for when, with knowledge blest,
Fair Beauty smiles upon the blushing brow,
Her soft persuasion wins the yielding heart
Resistless, each with glowing ardour hears
Her eloquence divine, the tuneful flow
Of sweetest periods, warbling from the lips
Where raptures hang: the captivated soul,
While Beauty triumphs, owns her boundless sway. 

Oft let me wander thro' the green retreat,
Where Meditation dwells, and roses shed
Their mild perfumes, wak'd by the genial breath
Of May, while gently by the purling stream
Its crystal waters roll: to crown my bliss
Let sweet Ardelia come, on her attends
Each mild engaging grace, each nameless charm
Alluring; Nature, bounteous, on her brow
Beams all its beauties, and the soul by her
Is charm'd to rapture; she the mind informs
With knowledge, which from her persuasive tongue
[Page 186]402  Alluring streams; while Music lends its voice
Melodious, and the Sapphic Muse awaits
Soft in her train, to breathe into her breast
Th' inspiring genius; she in melting lays,
Sweet as herself, in the warm bosom wakes
The fond delights of love. Here let us join
To sing of Nature, as we pleas'd survey
The beauteous landscape round, or frequent turn
The moving page, where glows poetic flame
And Harmony; with Nature's Shakespear rove
Thro' all the fairy regions, or oft fly
With Milton, boundless, thro' ethereal worlds. 
Let raptur'd Fancy feel the circling year
Roll o'er our heads, and mark the changing scenes
Of Nature, drest in his immortal lays
Who sung the Seasons. Thus may gentle hours
In sweet improvement pass, and still return
Auspicious; for with thee, the beating heart
Feels fond emotion, and the soul dissolves
In speechless transport of increasing joy. 

Ye lovely fair, while flowery chaplets bind
Your youthful brows, and o'er the verdant paths
Of gently gliding life, ye graceful sweep,
Array'd in purple pride; as on your breast
The diamond shines, and in your floating train
The ruby glows, and emeralds around
Beset the flying robe; while dazzling thus
In orient pomp, forgive if yet the Muse
In moralizing strains essays to draw
The evening veil o'er all the glitt'ring show. 

[Page 187]

Vain is their blaze, which, like the noon-tide day,
Dazzles the eye: so flaunt the gaudy flowers
In vernal glory, wide diffusing round
Their odoriferous sweets, and shoot profuse
Their blossoms forth, and flourish in their May,
In Nature's livery clad; but when the sun
Beams in his pride, they droop their blushing heads,
Their blossoms wither, and their varied tints
Fade with his sultry rays. Behold, ye fair,
Your gay delusions, read in Nature's book
Their transitory life, how quickly fleets
The dream of pleasure, at the pale approach
Of death grim blasting all your pictur'd hopes. 
So fell Amynta in her bloom of days. 
Joy flush'd her brow, and Expectation swell'd
Her beating bosom; Love its tribute paid
To her bewitching charms, about to taste
Connubial transports, and in Damon's arms
To share the licens'd bliss: while Virtue's self
Beheld complacent the indulging pair. 

Elated thus, the fair Amynta felt
The pangs of love; her wishes wing'd their flight
To future periods; in idea all
Life's softest blessings revell'd in her heart. 
Oft did the lovers court the lonely shade,
Reclusely happy, there to mingle sighs
In Nature's warmth: thrown on the flowery lap
Of the fresh earth, where roses blush around,
They breath'd their mutual vows, and tasted all
Th' endearing sweets of uncorrupted love. 
[Page 188]462 Dear hapless fair, amidst her warmest hopes,
When Fancy figur'd all the tender scene
Of mutual rapture, she devoted fell
The mournful victim of the conquering hand
Of unrelenting Death: he dread approach'd,
And Nature trembled at his ghastly mien. 
Her Damon now, in moving strains, laments,
And sadly pensive to her sacred tomb
He oft repairs, there drops a lover's tear,
While fond Remembrance opens all the scene
Of past delight, calls forth his beauteous bride
In visionary bloom once more to blaze
In all-attractive charms, till lost again
The phantom glides in air: all Nature wears
To him a face of woe; the valleys round
Re-echo doleful to his moving moan. 

So Beauty fades, so fleets its showy life,
As droops the lily, clad in all its pride
Of rich array. Yet while the pensive muse
Touches the springs of grief, may no dark gloom
O'erwhelm your souls, for innocence survives
To bloom eternal: and while life invites
To view its gayer scenes, amidst the pomp
Of radiant courts, still chearful move along
Its flowery walks, and lead with jovial heart
The laughing moments on; for Beauty shines
First in the gaudy circles, and commands
Fond admiration. As Britannia's sons
Excel in every virtue, manly brave
Amidst th' alarms of fate, gen'rous, sincere,
[Page 189]492  By glory kindled, may her virgins too,
Supremely fair, 'midst Beauty's brightest blaze,
In soft perfections shine; may Hymen wave
His purple wings, and o'er the sacred couch
His azure mantle spread, as down ye sink
In wedlock's chaste embrace, and oft renew
The hallow'd rapture: thus may peaceful life
Flow undisturb'd, nor jarring feud invade
Your happy hours. And ye, gay circles, now
Forgive the Muse, which daring thus has sung
Of Beauty's triumphs, tho' unequal far
To the delightful theme; yet Beauty charm'd
My soul, and pour'd into my glowing breast
Her fascination, led me thro' the maze
Of Love: nor unambitious of applause
She courts your smiles, yours is her pleasing song. 
To you she warbles, and devoted pays
Her fond oblation to your radiant charms. 
But chief indulgent, 'midst the shining throng,
Will fair Dorinda smile; she first inspir'd
My heart with Love, to her my early Muse
Her infant raptures pour'd; happy if now
Sweet flow my numbers on her judging ear,
And steal persuasive to her virgin breast. 

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Title (in Source Edition): THE POWER OF BEAUTY.

Author: Robert Shiels

Themes: beauty

Genres: blank verse; essay

References: DMI 32297

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Pearch, G. A collection of poems in four volumes. By several hands. Vol. I. [The second edition]. London: printed for G. Pearch, 1770, pp. 172-189. 4v. ; 8⁰. (ESTC T116245; DMI 1122; OTA K093079.001) (Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [(OC) 280 o.788].)

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THE POWER OF BEAUTY.

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