Inscription on a Grotto, the Work of Nine Ladies. Poems of Uncertain Date. Alexander Pope. 1903. Complete Poetical Works

Alexander Pope (1688–1744). Complete Poetical Works. 1903.

Poems of Uncertain Date

Inscription on a Grotto, the Work of Nine Ladies


HERE, shunning idleness at once and praise,
This radiant pile nine rural sisters raise;
The glitt’ring emblem of each spotless dame,
Clear as her soul and shining as her frame;
Beauty which Nature only can impart,	5
And such a polish as disgraces Art;
But Fate disposed them in this humble sort,
And hid in deserts what would charm a Court.