Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, BEAUTY IS VAIN, by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

BEAUTY IS VAIN, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: While roses are so red
Last Line: And hide her away in a shroud.
Alternate Author Name(s): Alleyne, Ellen; Rossetti, Christina
Subject(s): Beauty; Vanity


WHILE roses are so red,
While lilies are so white,
Shall a woman exalt her face
Because it gives delight?
She's not so sweet as a rose,
A lily's straighter than she,
And if she were as red or white
She'd be but one of three.

Whether she flush in love's summer
Or in its winter grow pale,
Whether she flaunt her beauty
Or hide it away in a veil,
Be she red or white
And stand she erect or bowed,
Time will win the race he runs with her,
And hide her away in a shroud.





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