Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, A BLACK PATCH ON LUCASTA'S FACE (2), by RICHARD LOVELACE


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A BLACK PATCH ON LUCASTA'S FACE (2), by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: As I beheld a winter's evening air
Last Line: Only a cloud or two hangs here and there.
Subject(s): Faces


As I beheld a Winters Evening Air,
Curl'd in her court false locks of living hair,
Butter'd with Jessamine the Sun left there,
Galliard and clinquant she appear'd to give,
A Serenade or Ball to us that grieve,
And teach us A la mode more gently live.
But as a Moor, who to her Cheeks prefers
White Spots t'allure her black Idolaters,
Me thought she look'd all ore bepatch'd with Stars;
Like the dark front of some Ethiopian Queen,
Vailed all ore with Gems of Red, Blew, Green;
Whose ugly Night seem'd masked with days Skreen;
Whilst the fond people offer'd Sacrifice
To Saphyrs 'stead of Veins and Arteries,
And bow'd unto the Diamonds, not her Eyes.
Behold Lucasta's Face, how't glows like Noon!
A Sun intire is her complexion,
And form'd of one whole Constellation.
So gently shining, so serene, so cleer,
Her look doth Universal nature cheer;
Only a cloud or two hangs here and there.





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