ART ABOVE NATURE: TO JULIA.
by Robert Herrick


WHEN I behold a forest spread
With silken trees upon thy head,
And when I see that other dress
Of flowers set in comeliness ;
When I behold another grace
In the ascent of curious lace,
Which like a pinnacle doth show
The top, and the top-gallant too.
Then, when I see thy tresses bound
Into an oval, square, or round,
And knit in knots far more than I
Can tell by tongue, or true-love tie ;
Next, when those lawny films I see
Play with a wild civility,
And all those airy silks to flow,
Alluring me, and tempting so ;
I must confess, mine eye and heart
Dotes less on Nature than on Art.


 Juan van der Hamen. Flora [detail]. 1627.
Juan van der Hamen. Flora [detail]. 1627.
Museo del Prado, Madrid
Source:
Herrick, Robert. Works of Robert Herrick. vol I.
Alfred Pollard, ed.
London, Lawrence & Bullen, 1891. 254-255.
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