The Triumph Of Charis

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See the chariot at hand here of Love,
  Wherein my lady rideth!
  Each that draws is a swan or a dove,
  And well the car Love guideth.
  As she goes, all hearts do duty
  Unto her beauty;
  And, enamoured, do wish, so they might
  But enjoy such a sight,
  That they still were to run by her side,
Through swords, through seas, whither she would ride.

  Do but look on her eyes, they do light
  All that Love's world compriseth!
  Do but look on her hair, it is bright
  As Love's star when it riseth!
  Do but mark, her forehead's smoother
  Than words that soothe her!
  And from her arched brows, such a grace
  Sheds itself through the face,
  As alone there triumphs to the life
All the gain, all the good, of the elements' strife.

  Have you seen but a bright lily grow
  Before rude hands have touched it?
  Have you marked but the fall o' the snow
  Before the soil hath smutched it?
  Have you felt the wool of beaver?
  Or swan's down ever?
  Or have smelt o' the bud o' the brier?
  Or the nard in the fire?
  Or have tasted the bag of the bee?
O so white!  O so soft!  O so sweet is she!

© Benjamin Jonson