What noble honor does your beauty dress,
That loveliness which dazzles all men’s eyes?
Yet of your blessings, virtue tops the rest,
For smiles are oft but superficial guise.
Still few, if any, truly see your heart,
Ensconced behind the charms your mirror shows;
And though you see them, set them all apart,
As if they were imaginary clothes.
True elegance is that which lies within,
And is the essence of all human worth;
For those that prize prinked opalescent skin,
Their measure of true merit seems perverse.
While nature’s garment often dulls with wear,
True virtue’s vestment shines forever fair.

© Loubert S Suddaby. All Rights Reserved.