UPON A PAINTED GENTLEWOMAN
Men say you're fair; and fair ye are, 'tis true; But, hark! we praise the painter now, not you.
Robert Herrick
Men say you're fair; and fair ye are, 'tis true; But, hark! we praise the painter now, not you.
Someone tells a woman she’s beautiful, then snatches the compliment right back. “Men say you’re fair,” the speaker begins, and sure, he agrees—the fairness is there, plain to see. But then comes a playful, cutting “hark!” Listen up: any praise belongs to the painter, not to her.
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