Triumph of Charis. Ben Jonson (1572-1637). I. Admiration. Bliss Carman, et al., eds. 1904. The World's Best Poetry. II. Love

Bliss Carman, et al., eds. The World’s Best Poetry.
Volume II. Love. 1904.

I. Admiration

Triumph of Charis

Ben Jonson (1572–1637)


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	5
Unto her beauty.
And, enamored, 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.	10

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	15
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.	20

Have you seen but a bright lily grow,
Before rude hands have touched it?
Have you marked but the fall of the snow,
Before the soil hath smutched it?
Have you felt the wool of the beaver?	25
Or swan’s down ever?
Or have smelt o’ the bud of the brier?
Or the nard i’ the fire?
Or have tasted the bag of the bee?
Oh, so white! oh, so soft! oh, so sweet is she.	30