NATURE'S LABELS.

In vain we fondly strive to trace

The soul's reflection in the face;

In vain we dwell on lines and crosses,

Crooked mouth or short proboscis;

Boobies have looked as wise and bright

As Plato or the Stagirite:

And many a sage and learned skull

Has peeped through windows dark and dull.

Since then, though art do all it can,

We ne'er can reach the inward man,

Nor ( howsoe'er “learned Thebans” doubt )

The inward woman, from without,

Methinks‘ twere well if nature could

( And Nature could, if Nature would )

Some pithy, short descriptions write

On tablets large, in black and white,

Which she might hang about our throttles,

Like labels upon physic-bottles;

And where all men might read — but stay —

As dialectic sages say,

The argument most apt and ample

For common use is the example.

For instance, then, if Nature's care

Had not portrayed, in lines so fair,

The inward soul of Lucy Lindon.

This is the label she'd have pinned on.