Ben Jonson

from

The Silent Woman, Act I., Sc. i.

CLERIMONT'S SONG

Still to be neat, still to be drest,
As you were going to a feast ;
Still to be powder'd, still perfum'd :
Lady, it is to be presum'd,
Though Art's hid causes are not found,
All is not sweet, all is not sound.

Give me a look, give me a face,
That makes simplicity a grace ;
Robes loosely flowing, hair as free :
Such sweet neglect more taketh me,
Than all the adulteries of Art ;
They strike mine eyes, but not my heart.


Source:
The Songs and Poems of Ben Jonson.
London: Philip Allan & Co., 1924. 15.


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