Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.
By Harriet PrescottSpofford613 Evanescence
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What ’s a mouth of pearls and corals?
Beauty vanishes like a vapor,
Preach the men of musty morals!
Have shut their ears to singing Homer,
Because the music fled as soon
As fleets the violets’ aroma?
The bloom a velvet cheek discloses,
Made of dust—I well believe it!
So are lilies, so are roses!