“Beauty, thou wild fantastic ape
Who dost in every country change thy shape!”

— Abraham Cowley

"Beauty," complete poem in The Works of the English Poets, from Chaucer to Cowper, Samuel Johnson ed., vol. 7, p. 115.

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Abraham Cowley 40

British writer 1618–1667

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“Spirit of BEAUTY, that dost consecrate
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“Who o'er the herd would wish to reign,
Fantastic, fickle, fierce, and vain!
Vain as the leaf upon the stream,
And fickle as a changeful dream;
Fantastic as a woman's mood,
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Walter Scott (1771–1832) Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet

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“I envy thee, thou careless wind!
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“They tell me thou art rich, my country: gold
In glittering flood has poured into thy chest;
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Thy factories and forges never rest;
Thou art enriched in all things bought and sold!

But dost thou prosper? Better news I crave.
O dearest country, is it well with thee
Indeed, and is thy soul in health?
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These are prosperity and vital wealth!”

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“2597. Keep thy Judgment to thyself. Why should others know what thou art? or paraphrase upon thy Opinion? Herein thou hast the Advantage of changing thy Mind when thou art mistaken, and yet continue ( for ought others know ) in the same Mind.”

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