William Shakespeare on Beauty
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“For her own person, It beggar'd all description.”
“Of Nature's gifts thou may'st with lilies boast And with the half-blown rose.”
“Say that she frown; I'll say she looks as clear As morning roses newly wash'd with dew.”
“Beauty is brought by judgment of the eye, Not utter'd by base sale of chapmen's tongues.”
“O, how much more doth beauty beauteous seem By that sweet ornament which truth doth give!”
“'Tis beauty truly blent, whose red and white Nature's own sweet and cunning hand laid on.”
“Heaven bless thee! Thou hast the sweetest face I ever looked on; Sir, as I have a soul, she is an angel.”
“I'll not shed her blood; Nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow, And smooth as monumental alabaster.”
“There's nothing ill can dwell in such a temple: If the ill spirit have so fair a house, Good things will strive to dwell with't.”
“O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright! It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night, Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope's ear: Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear!”
“Beauty is but a vain and doubtful good; A shining gloss, that fadeth suddenly; A flower that dies, when first it 'gins to bud; A brittle glass, that's broken presently: A doubtful good, a gloss, a glass, a flower, Lost, faded, broken, dead within an hour.”