GAZE not upon my outside, friend, With scorn or with disgust -- Judge not, until you condescend To look beneath the crust. Rough and unsightly is my shell, But you just dues will render; And to the world the truth will tell, And say my heart is tender. The young may scorn my olden ways, With their new-fashioned notions; The old the insult soon repays By claiming double portions. 'Tis true, like modern Misses, gay, The truth is sad, distressing! But I must now say out my say -- I need a little dressing! My sauce, my rich apparel, hides My ugly form from sight; The goodness of my heart, besides, Will always come to light. Then judge not by the surface, dear; Look deeper at the heart: Above the faults of earth appear Beneath the better part. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...PLACE FOR A THIRD by ROBERT FROST DESIRE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON RECOMPENSE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON CHAMBER MUSIC: 14 by JAMES JOYCE SHE WEEPS OVER RAHOON by JAMES JOYCE THE GARDEN BY MOONLIGHT by AMY LOWELL THE SLAVE TRADE: VIEW FROM THE MIDDLE PASSAGE by CLARENCE MAJOR |