Charles Mackay (1814–1889)

BEAUTY and Love—and are they not the same?

The one is both, and both are but the one,

Pervasive they of all around the sun,

Of one same essence, differing but in name.

Lo! when pure Love lights his immortal flame,

He, and all Earth and Heaven in Beauty shine;

And when true Beauty shows her face divine,

Love permeates the universal frame.

Holy of holies! mystery sublime!

Who truly loves is beautiful to see,

And scatters Beauty wheresoe’er he goes—

They fill all space; they move the wheels of Time;

And evermore from their dread unity

Through all the firmaments Life’s ocean flows.