O, ugliness is but skin deep, young man, And art its duty is to help reveal The beauteous thought which underlies God's plan Which He, Creator, thought best to conceal. The chestnut burr is rough and sharp with thorns, Yet holds a sweet and tasty meat within; The sweetest spirit often times adorns The heart that's hidden 'neath an ugly skin. And though the sculptured marble oft proclaims A beauty lacking in the living man, The sculptor's honest when his chisel aims To interpret God's divine, noble plan. As Nature, when an earthquake's force is spent, Oft leaves great things before our wondering gaze In treasures of a very large extent, So art should paint the inner beauty's ways. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE GENERAL PUBLIC by STEPHEN VINCENT BENET THE WILLOW by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON ANSWER TO PRAYER by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON THE DINNER-PARTY by AMY LOWELL SURFACES AND MASKS; 1 by CLARENCE MAJOR |